Miraculous: Tales of Dark Chaos: Chaos Confusion
by White Fire the Dragon
Summary: *Theme Music Plays* Je m'appelle Shadow. J'ai été projeté dans le temps et l'espace, et maintenant je suis pris au piège dans ce monde. Maintenant, je dois retrouver mon chemin avec l'aide d'une héroïne nommée Ladybug. *Theme Continues and Ends* Shadow's search for the chaos emeralds approaches the end quickly, but not without running into a few "snags".
1. Chapter 1

Episode 3: Chaos Confusion

"I've looked everywhere, but I just can't seem to find it." Shadow told his new associates, Marinette, Adrien, Tikki, Plagg, Nino and Alya.

After they all finished revealing everything about who and what they were… well, _most_ of it _(ahem)_ … Shadow finally decided to do something that he would normally only resort to if it was absolutely necessary; he asked them for help. Suffice to say, they were all shocked to hear this. As for Master Fu, he went home (unseen, of course) not long after Shadow had asked this. Shadow told them that since he didn't know Paris all that well, it would be greatly beneficial to his mission if they were to assist him in his search for the chaos emerald.

Once they had recovered from hearing Shadow's request, they all finally agreed to help him. Shadow then, led them to the place where he tracked down the fifth emerald, which was where they currently were.

"Alright, let's go over all the places you've checked. Have you checked the rooftops?" Asked Marinette.

"Yes." Shadow responded.

"The alleyways?" Asked Adrien.

"Check."

"The catacombs." Asked Alya.

"Yes."

"Inside the build—?" Shadow interrupted Nino before he could finish speaking.

"Wait- _what_?!"

"Inside the **buildings**." Nino said, thinking that _that_ was what Shadow was referring too.

"No, before that!"

"The catacombs?" Asked Marinette.

"… **What** catacombs?"

* * *

Almost half an hour later, Shadow was led to the entrance of something… ancient. Now, he and the others were currently wondering through dark tunnels filled with ancient French architecture… and bones. Lots and lots of bones. While Marinette and her friends were using the flashlight apps on their cellphones as a means of light, Shadow had used his chaos powers to heat up and ignite a torch on the wall that they had passed by, earlier.

"I never would've guessed that all of **this** was here." Admitted Shadow, holding his torch near the ground to see the skulls sitting in the water as they walked.

"These catacombs run underneath **all** of Paris." Said Marinette. "They're as old as the city itself."

 _ **SPLASH**_

" _Yuck_!" Exclaimed Nino after stepping in a puddle. "I don't always pay attention in history class, but if we _did_ learn about the catacombs once, I'm kinda **glad** I didn't pay attention, 'cause I **definitely** do **not** want to know what I just stepped in."

"You know, Nino," Said Alya, sneaking up on her boyfriend. "Some people say that the catacombs are… HAUNTED!"

" _AHHH_!" Nino screamed, dropping his phone into a puddle, as Alya suddenly grabbed his shoulders.

"Aha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha…!" Alya hysterically laughed.

"So not **FUNNY**!" Nino shouted at her before finally picking up his soaked phone.

"Oh, c'mon, Nino. You know I was just kidding."

Nino only crossed his arms and avoided eye contact. Alya responded to this by wrapping her arms around him.

"Hey, I'm really sorry, baby. I didn't mean to scare you."

Alya followed up on her statement by kissing Nino's cheek. He blushed at this and smiled. He was always quick to forgive her.

"Well, _(ahem)_ …" Nino then spoke with bravery and confidence. "You know, I… wasn't really _that_ scared. I mean, everyone knows there's no such thing as ghosts."

"Yes, there are." Said Shadow, who overheard their conversation while examining a shelf of bones.

"What?" Asked Nino.

"Ghosts, they're real. At least they are in _my_ world."

Everyone was now staring at him.

"Ha-ha…" Marinette gave out a short fake laugh. "Good one, Shadow, but I think that's enough with the jokes, don't you?"

"And here I thought you **had** no sense of humor." Said Adrien.

"I'm not joking." Shadow turned to look at them when he said this. "I don't joke. I'm serious. In _my_ world, ghosts are a real phenomenon."

Marinette eyes widened as she made eye contact, seeing Shadow's serious expression in the light of his torch. She was currently looking for even the **slightest** bit of evidence that he was joking. She found none.

"Y-you mean, the spirits of the… d-d-d-deceased are… real?" She shakily said, starting to get spooked by this as Shadow turned around and kept walking.

"Yep." Shadow said plainly as he moved to a different area of the tunnel.

Adrien noticed how Marinette was getting really frightened now, and proceeded to put his arm around her.

"Hey, bugaboo, there's no need to fear while _I'm_ here."

Marinette giggled at her boyfriend's actions to comfort her.

"Thanks, Adrien." Marinette then held him and he did the same back.

"Any time, Love-bug."

"Can we all stay focused?" Said Shadow as he continued searching the catacombs.

"You know; you could at least apologize." Adrien said to Shadow.

Shadow was about to tell him to stop worrying about these things and focus on finding the emerald, but then he noticed Marinette's face. She definitely did not look happy, which only succeeded in making Shadow feel bad about his actions.

"I'm sorry for frightening you, Marinette." He said. "Really, I am."

Marinette smiled at his apology.

"It's okay." She said. "I know you just want us to find that emerald as soon as possible."

Seeing Marinette smile almost made Shadow want to smile back.

"Great, now _that's_ settled," Said Alya, "let's just put all of these ghost stories behind us."

"I _**was**_ serious, though. Ghosts really do exist in my world."

Again, everyone went wide-eyed.

"Except they're not the 'spirits of the dead' as Marinette said. They're actually spirit- _like_ entities that are known to cause mischief."

"Oh, so they're like Plagg?" Said Adrien.

"Hey!" Complained Plagg.

"Yes, right down to them not knowing when to shut-up." Said Shadow.

" _Hey_!" Plagg complained louder.

"In fact, I'm wondering if the ghosts in _your_ world are any different from the ghosts in _mine_."

"If they're anything like _Plagg_ , then we'll **definitely** be in trouble." Joked Adrien.

" _Hey_!" Plagg complained even louder.

Everyone laughed at this except for Plagg and Shadow. Adrien noticed this and approached him.

"Oh, c'mon, sourpuss." Said Adrien, hooking his right arm around Shadow's shoulders. "You gotta admit that was funny."

" _Hmph_." Shadow grunted as he threw Adrien's arm off of him with a shake of his shoulder and walked away. "Sorry, but laughter isn't my thing. Let's focus on finding that emerald."

Plagg flew up to Adrien's ear to whisper something.

"Wow, this guy really _is_ a sourpuss."

Despite him **whispering** this, Shadow still managed to overhear Plagg statement and decided to turn around to say one more thing.

"You know, in _my_ world, the only way to deal with annoying spirits who won't shut-up is to **hit** them… **hard**." Shadow eyed Plagg with an evil smirk on his face, forcing the feline-like kwami to cower behind Adrien's head. " _Hmph_ , that's what I thou—"

Suddenly, Shadow stopped himself mid-sentence and turned around. Everyone behind watched with surprise mixed with a little worry as he suddenly hunched over, grunting and holding onto his chest. Then he started panting.

"Shadow, are you—?!" Shadow raised up his hand before Marinette could finish talking.

"Let's just keep moving." He said in one breath before panting some more.

And so, the seven of them continued to search the catacombs. Marinette decided to stay close by Shadow after his little hiccup a while ago. After a while, Alya and Nino decided to relax against a wall.

"Dude, how do we know we didn't already pass it?" Asked Nino.

Shadow responded to this by taking out his emerald and using his chaos sensing ability.

 _ **CRACK**_

" _Gah_!" Alya shrieked before realizing that she had only stepped on a skull. "Man, this place doesn't even **need** a chaos emerald. Everything down here's **already** in total chaos! Control is what this place **definitely** needs. Maybe even a **little** control."

Suddenly, a faint glow began to emanate from a skull that was leaning against Alya's ankle.

"It's very close. I can **feel** it." Said Shadow.

"Then _we'll_ keep looking." Said Tikki. "It's got to be here somewhere."

"Man, I kinda wish these skeletons _were_ haunted and _would_ come to life. Maybe _they'd_ tell us where to find it." Said Nino, whose ankle rubbed against the same skull.

"Strange. The power has increased sudde—" Shadow stopped himself before he could finish that sentence, realizing what Nino and Alya had just said. "Everyone, put your lights out, **now**!"

After hearing Shadow shout this, everyone proceeded to turn their phones off. As for Shadow, _he_ simply put his emerald back into his pocket and snuffed the flame from his torch out. Now, the only source of light was an ominous green glow emanating from the eye holes of the skull sitting at Alya and Nino's feet.

"Uh-oh!" Exclaimed Alya.

"I think we just found it." Nino nervously said.

"Ally, Ninno, get back!" Shadow shouted to the two of them.

Alya and Nino quickly got away from the skull as the glow became brighter.

"And for the record, our names are **Âl-yâ** and **Ní-nó**!" Alya exclaimed.

"Don't care! _I_ need to get that emerald!" Exclaimed Shadow.

Without another word, Shadow ran straight for the skull, dropping his torch in the process; however, just as Shadow was about to touch it, and boney arm grabbed the skull and snatched it away, scooping up the emerald as if the skull were a bowl.

"What?!"

Shadow stopped and followed the arm. It led to a skeleton that was standing up. The only thing sitting on its vertebrae was a jawbone. With its arm, it placed the skull upon the jaw, causing the emerald to fall down; unfortunately, rather than falling completely out of the skeleton body, the emerald stayed inside of the ribcage as if it had gotten stuck on something in there. Shadow backed away, scowled at the skeleton, and got into a battle-ready stance.

" _(gulp)_ Me and my big mouth." Said Nino.

"Relax, Nino," said Adrien as he got into a battle-ready stance, "'cause there's only **one** of _him_ , and **seven** of **us**."

Suddenly, the other torches that hung on the catacomb walls quickly ignited, as if by some supernatural force, illuminating everything in the once dark tunnels. Now that the entirety of the tunnel was lit up, everyone alive could clearly see the large army of the undead standing behind the skeleton with the emerald in its chest.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha." The skeleton somehow laughed despite it not having lungs.

Again, the heroes stood, wide-eyed.

"You had to say 'haunted'." Commented Shadow. "Adrien, Marinette, with me!"

"Right!" Exclaimed Marinette.

"You got it!" Exclaimed Adrien.

"Tikki, Spots On! Ha!"

Marinette held up the hair covering her left ear, revealing her black earrings turning red, and almost immediately, Tikki was absorbed into them, causing black spots to appear. Marinette ran her hands across her eyes causing sparkles followed by a red mask with five black spots to appear upon her face. Sparkles then began to cover her body, replacing her usual daily wear with her superhero suit, her magic yoyo appearing around her waist. She had transformed into the miraculous Ladybug.

"Plagg, Claws Out!"

Adrien held out his right fist, revealing his white ring turning black, and almost immediately, Plagg was absorbed into it, causing a green cat's paw print to appear. Adrien ran two fingers across his eyes causing black a black mask to appear. When he opened his eyes, it revealed that they had turned green and the pupils were thin like a cat's. He then ran both his hands through his hair, causing it to appear messy as well as causing black cat ears to sprout from his head. Green lightning then began to cover his body, replacing his usual daily wear with his superhero suit, his retractable bow-staff appearing behind him, on his belt. He had transformed into the cunning Chat Noir.

All at once, the skeletons charged at the teenagers.

"Time to break some bones!"

The heroes charged into the skeleton horde all at once. Ladybug and Chat Noir used their weapons to knock away the skeletons, reducing them to piles of bones. Shadow, on the other hand, used his close-combat skills to fend off the attackers, _also_ leaving piles of bones behind him. Soon after they had each dispatched over a hundred skeletons, it had become blatantly clear that there was virtually no end to the skeleton horde.

"These guys just keep coming!" Exclaimed Chat Noir, using his bow-staff to swipe away at the skeletons attempting to attack him from behind.

"Almost every last **inch** of this place is littered with bones!" Exclaimed Ladybug, using her yoyo to knock back the skeletons that were surrounding her. "What are we gonna do?!"

"We have to find the one with the chaos emerald!" Exclaimed Shadow, using his speed and agility to aid him in dispatching every last skeleton in his path. "If we can get the emerald away from it, then that should put an end to all this!"

Alya, who overheard this, started to scan the horde of skeletons until her eyes fell on one with the glowing-green chest.

"Guys, I see it!" She shouted to her companions. "Over there!"

Alya pointed to something and they all followed her finger, which led to the skeleton whom they've been searching for. It was running through the crowd of skeletons, trying to get away from the heroes.

"Got it!" Exclaimed Shadow before charging through the skeleton horde to get to the skeleton with the emerald.

"Good eye, Alya!" Ladybug shouted to her best friend.

"Chaos Control!" Shadow exclaimed, teleporting right in front of the skeleton that almost appeared to be scared of him.

"That's as far as you go." He told it. "Make this easier on yourself and give me that emerald."

The skeleton backed away, its skull looking left and right. Alya and Nino could see everything from where they were standing.

"Heh, it's a good thing these guys have no brains, so they can't think of using the emerald to teleport away like Shadow did." Said Nino.

Shadow's eyes widened when he noticed that the skeleton seemed to understand. The skeleton then reached into his ribcage and grabbed the emerald.

"Chaos Control!" He heard it say.

"Whu—?! No-wait!" But Shadow was too late stop him.

 _ **VOIP**_

"Oh, no!" Said Ladybug.

"Well, things just got a whole lot harder." Said Chat Noir.

"Um… Guys?" Said Nino.

Turning around, it wasn't long until the reason for Nino's sudden nervousness became clear. Some of the skeletons were approaching them.

"I think we need some help!" Said Alya.

Nino got into a battle ready stance while Alya grabbed one of the lit torches from the wall. The two of them stood back-to-back as the skeletons surrounded them.

"Alya, Nino, hang on!" Exclaimed Chat.

"You ready for this?" Asked Alya.

"Nope." Answered Nino.

A skeleton then lunged at Nino. In an effort defend himself, he threw a punch, strengthened by a desperate desire to stay alive. The punch made contact and knocked the skull clean of the skeleton's body, leaving the rest of the bones to fall apart from one another.

"Huh, that was pretty easy." Nino said, astounded until another skeleton tried to grab him, causing Nino to hit it as hard as he could and make _it_ too fall apart.

A skeleton then came for Alya and she responded by hitting it with her torch, breaking the skull as well as some of the bones, leaving scorch marks on whatever bones were left.

" _Few_ , that all you got?!" She taunted the skeletons.

The skeletons responded by charging at the two of them. Alya was now starting to regret her decision to taunt the undead army that outnumbered them hundreds to one. Nino grabbed a femur from one of the bone piles and they both desperately started swinging their weapons back and forth, taking out skeleton after skeleton. Unfortunately, as previously noted, they were terribly outnumbered hundreds to one.

"There's too many!" Shouted Alya.

"Nino, Alya, duck!" Shouted Chat Noir, riding his bow-staff to their location.

They followed his instructions and ducked their heads as he landed between the two of them. He then proceeded to swing his bow-staff around himself, over his friends' heads, and take out the skeletons that surrounded them as they came charging.

"Alright, they're gone." They heard Chat say after two minutes of spinning.

Alya and Nino arose to their feet to see the piles among piles of bones scattered around them.

"Help!" They heard Ladybug scream.

They turned and saw her on the ground with a whole bunch of skeletons on top of her, keeping her down, and more just kept coming. She tried with all of her might to force them off of her, but with so many of them, she couldn't muster up the strength. Suddenly, she felt her body warm up. She looked around and saw that her vision was suddenly looking through some kind of clear green light.

"Chaos Control!"

 _ **VOIP**_

There was a flash of bright green and Ladybug suddenly found herself looking at the pile of skeletons that were once on top of her.

"You okay?" She turned her head and looked up to see that Shadow was kneeling down, holding his hand out in front of her.

"Yeah, I am." She said, taking his hand so that he could help her stand. "Thanks."

"Hm…" Shadow nodded with a confident grin before he suddenly remembered something, "don't thank me yet. We **still** need to find out where that skeleton teleported off too."

Suddenly, as if trying to answer his question, everyone soon noticed that all of the bones, even the ones from **whole** skeletons, seemed to be moving in the same direction.

"I'm no detective, but I'm thinking he's that-a-way." Said Chat, pointing in the direction that the bones were moving.

"And just what makes you think it's a boy?" Alya asked with a smirk.

"Come on!" Shadow ordered, and so they all took off after the bones.

As they moved, they soon found that the water seemed to be sinking into rather large cracks in the cave floor. Ladybug stopped so that she could examine them.

"These look… new." Said Ladybug as she examined the cracks.

"Ladybug!" Ladybug heard Shadow's voice from around a corner and followed her friends.

After rounding the corner, they all soon found themselves inside a large, wide-open cave, looking directly at a large hole in the cave floor. All of the bones were falling into the hole, toward a faint green glow, and no one liked the looks of it. Nino was the first to say anything as they all stared at the chasm.

"You guys feel like something **really** bad is about to hap—?"

" **RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUGGGGHHHHH!** " A loud roar erupted as a giant arm made out of various bones arose out of the chasm.

Their screams of terror, minus Shadow, who just angrily growled, filled the catacombs as the rest of the skeleton giant slowly arose from the pit. It used its great arms to grip whatever parts of the floor _weren't_ destroyed. As they all stopped screaming, the skeleton giant decided to take a look around before his eye sockets soon fell upon the heroes.

"You just _**had**_ to say 'chaos control' and 'come to life', didn't you?" Shadow asked sarcastically.

The skele-giant glared at them, then lifted its right hand, forming a fist, balancing on the other, and then brought it down upon the heroes.

"Chaos Barrier!" Shadow shouted, throwing his hands up to summon a green force field around them.

The fist made contact with the barrier, shaking it a little, frightening most of those inside. The impact caused some bones to fall from the appendage.

"What _is_ that thing?!" Alya asked while shouting.

"Man, _this_ guy makes Stoneheart look **puny**!" Chat Noir, half-joked despite the given situation.

"It's using the emerald's power and the bones in the catacombs to make itself bigger and stronger." Shadow explained. "We need to get that emerald **now**!"

Shadow could see the emerald's green glow emanate through the seams of the bones. The light appeared to be glowing brightest on the left side of the giant ribcage.

"It's his heart!" He shouted pointing to the giant ribs on the left side of the giant sternum.

The skele-giant attacked again. The sounds bones filled the caves.

"Technically, skeletons don't have hearts." Chat commented, making Shadow growl in annoyance.

"Well _this_ one does!" Exclaimed Ladybug. "And right now, we need to get to it!"

"I've got **just** the thing for that!

Cataclysm!"

Chat Noir raised his right hand up as dark energy built up in his palm. He closed his hand, allowing the destructive, magical energy to be absorbed into it.

"Just drop the bubble and—"

"And **what**?! You jump in without thinking?!" Questioned Alya. "You'll get smacked around before you even get **close**!"

"Alya's right." Agreed Ladybug before the monster struck the barrier again. "We need a strategy before we can do anything!"

"Well then, start thinking one up! I can't keep this barrier up forever!" Said Shadow.

Ladybug looked around as she tried to think of a plan. She immediately noticed that the giant skeleton needed to rest on both arms after every attack. That was when she came up with an idea.

"I've got it! We wait for him to attack, then we go for his arm over there!" Ladybug pointed at the skeleton's **left** hand that it was currently standing on so that it could attack again. "Shadow, you use your chaos powers to keep his free hand away. Chat, you climb up the arm and go for his chest."

"That could work." Shadow agreed.

"Nice thinkin' bug-a-boo." Chat Noir complemented before going in for a kiss.

"Save it for _after_ we get the emerald." Ladybug said as she pressed her finger into his lips.

The skeleton attacked again, and Shadow was starting to show signs of strain.

"Alright, but what'll _we_ do?" Asked Nino.

" _We_ stay out of the way." Alya answered.

"Actually, Alya, I think _you_ two should take Shadow's backpack."

"What?!" Shadow loudly questioned Ladybug's suggestion.

"We can't risk that thing getting its boney hands on the other emeralds! Trust me when I say 'they can do this'."

With how tired Shadow was feeling from having to keep up his force-field, he didn't even **need** to see Maria's face in Marinette's.

"As soon as he pushes off his hand to attack again, I'll drop the barrier." Said Shadow. "You two, get ready to run down the hall and wait for us."

They all agreed to the plan and got ready to put it into action. After the monster attacked one more time, they all waited and watched the skeleton hand as it fell onto the stone floor. They waited until they saw the skeleton push up on its hand.

"Now!" Ladybug shouted.

Shadow dropped the barrier allowing everyone inside to start running. Alya and Nino ran off down the hallway while the heroes ran around the chasm, heading straight for the other hand. Shadow saw the giant hand come down upon them, so he retaliated.

"Chaos Spear!" He shouted, waving his hand and firing a volley of yellow spears of magic at the hand.

The spears exploded upon contact, causing the entire hand to fall apart, leaving nothing but a bumpy, boney stump.

"Looks like he's **shorthanded**!" Chat Noir joked as the heroes soon made it to the hand and they proceeded to climb up it.

Since the skele-giant was short a hand, it began to slowly fall into the pit while it's only hand tightly gripped the stone floor to keep from falling all of the way. The heroes drew closer and closer to the chest.

"Yes!" Exclaimed Chat Noir.

"Chat Noir, go! We'll cover you!" Shadow exclaimed from behind.

"Alright then, **bonehead**!" Chat Noir jumped straight for the monster's chest, his hand ready to reduce it to nothingness. "Take **this**!"

The attack made contact with the skeleton's third hand.

"Huh?!" Chat Noir questioned as he jumped off.

Upon landing, Chat Noir could clearly see a **third** hand coming from underneath the hand that Shadow had previously dealt with. It was covering the skeleton's chest before succumbing to Chat Noir's Cataclysm. Unfortunately, it only managed to reach a quarter past the wrist, turning every last bone to dust. They then felt the skele-giant's body shake. Looking over its shoulder, they could see its previously destroyed right hand back to its regular state and used it to grip the stone floor and straightening itself.

"Where did _those_ come from?!" Ladybug asked loudly.

Shadow took a closer look at the monster's chest and saw that it was glowing even brighter than before. He then looked at the monster's shoulders and saw a fourth and fifth hand sprout up from it, followed by a **sixth** hand sprouting out from underneath the left hand. Shadow looked around and saw bones flying in the air, going into the destroyed parts of the giant skeleton. In an instant, the destroyed giant limbs were repaired by the bones flying into them.

"This isn't working!" Exclaimed Shadow. "It keeps using the bones in the catacombs to fix itself faster than we can tear it apart!"

The monster then set its sights on the heroes, of which, they all took notice.

"Uh-oh!" Said Chat Noir.

"Everyone, stay close!" Shadow then grabbed them by their waists. "Chaos Control!"

 _ **VOIP**_

Shadow managed to teleport them out of harm's way just in time, for at that moment, the arm on the giant skeleton's right shoulder and the one underneath its left arm slammed down right where they once stood. When it finally saw them standing on the stone floor, it then moved all of its boney arms onto the stone floor and began to walk around on its arms in a circle. The heroes started running, Shadow needing to keep his pace slow to stay beside the other heroes and to not end up running right into one of the monster's giant, boney arms.

"Shouldn't he be out of power by now or something?!" Chat Noir asked while running. "I thought you said that power ups were temporary?!"

 _ **BEEP-BEEP**_

"Like other things." Chat commented as he saw the first green pad on his ring disappear.

"They normally are," Shadow tried to explain, "but this thing isn't like Baker! Instead of the chaos emerald giving it a power up, it seems to be literally **running** on it!"

"What does _that_ mean?!" Asked Ladybug.

"It means the emerald is powering it like a **battery**. If it were using the emerald's power to make itself **indestructible** , then it _would_ only be temporary!""

"But why's it so **big** now?!" Asked Chat.

"Wait!" Said Ladybug. "Remember when Nino gave it the idea to teleport away from Shadow?! And remember how it came to life in the **first** place?!"

"What are you getting at?!" Asked Shadow.

" _It_ probably made a wish on the emerald, _too_!"

"So you think it asked the emerald to make it **bigger**?! I suppose that might be a possibility. But it seems to only be able to use chaos to build itself up and keep itself active! Did you notice how easily the smaller skeletons fell apart?! Even **this** thing is physically weak, but we still can't get through if it keeps building itself up!"

 _ **BEEP-BEEP**_

The sound of Chat Noir's miraculous running out of power caught their attention.

" _That's_ not good!" Said Chat Noir.

"And neither is **that**!" Said Ladybug.

Everyone stopped when they saw the skele-giant moving in the opposite direction. Shadow retaliated by throwing more small chaos spears at it. The attack made the entire hand fall apart, but only for a moment, during which, the monster proceeded to rebuild itself. The heroes responded to this by running in the opposite direction.

"We can't keep this up all day!" Shadow commented.

"With all this running around, I'm definitely gonna need a 'catnap' after this!" Joked Chat Noir.

"If we could just get to its chest and keep it open!" Said Ladybug before she noticed something. "LOOK OUT!"

Ladybug was able to throw the boys down and out of the way as the skele-giant swung its hand over their heads when they weren't looking and tried to grab at them from behind. The male heroes were out of the way, but Ladybug wasn't quick enough.

"Chat! Shadow!" She called out to them as the skeleton's hand grabbed her and pulled her away.

"Ladybug!" Chat called out to his beloved as she was being taken away from him.

"Try to hold on, Marinette! We'll get to you!" Shadow called, not even caring that he used her real name.

"Incoming, 10 o'clock!" Warned Chat.

Shadow turned to his left and attacked the hand before it could grab _him_ too, making it back away momentarily to rebuild itself. Shadow turn around and saw another hand behind Chat Noir.

"Chat Noir, watch your six!" Warned Shadow.

Chat Noir did a back flip and landed on the skeleton hand. He then stabbed the back of the hand with his staff and made to fall apart and back up just after he jumped back off.

 _ **BEEP-BEEP**_

"You've only got two minutes left! You should get out of here and recharge Plagg!" Shadow warned as he continued to fend off the giant skeleton hands.

"And leave _you_ to have all the fun?! No, thank you!" Chat half-joked as he too continued to fight. "Besides, I don't trust leaving you and Bone-bag, here, alone with My Lady!"

"Well then, we'll have to end it now! If we fail to take this thing down, it'll just keep growing until it breaks through the surface! And there's no telling what kind of destruction that monster could unleash on Paris once it's grown big enough!"

"Okay, so how do we stop it?!"

"Well, whatever you boys decide on, might I suggest you figure it out quickly?!" Called Ladybug from the monster's grasp.

While he fought, Shadow used his quick thinking brain and super speed to scan the room. He saw the way the hands were moving. They were perfect for homing spin-dashes. If done correctly, Shadow should be able to make it to the chest. However, for as long as he had been here, Shadow had not even once attempted to use his spin-dash attack. Since humans couldn't curl up into balls the same way that hedgehogs could, he wasn't sure he even _could_. Deciding it best not to dwell on it for too long, Shadow just decided to get to it.

"Hold on, Ladybug!" Shadow called before breaking into a run. "Here I come!"

Shadow jumped up and dashed forward, grabbing his legs and pulling them against his torso, pressing his head into his knees. He started to spin in midair… only to lose control and end up falling into the pit.

"Shadow!" Ladybug and Chat Noir exclaimed in unison.

Shadow uncurled as soon as he realized that he was out of control.

"Chaos Control!" Shadow quickly teleported back to the stone floor; unfortunately, he forgot to reposition himself in freefall before doing so, and ended up landing on his face. " _Oof_ - _augh_!"

"Shadow, are you okay?!" A concerned Ladybug called to her ally.

Shadow quickly got back up just in time to counter an attack from one of the hands.

"I'm fine!" He responded as he fought, rubbing the minor soreness out of his nose.

"What were you trying to do?!" Chat Noir asked him.

"I was… never mind it! Just keep fighting!"

Shadow hadn't even **thought** of the possibility that his new size and stature would make it too difficult to preform so much as a midair dash, let alone a homing **spin** -dash. Shadow needed to think up a plan and soon. He glanced over to Ladybug. He considered having her use her Lucky Charm but she had no way of reaching her yoyo passed those big, boney fingers. He looked over at Chat Noir. He had the right idea with his Cataclysm, but it didn't have enough power.

" _Wait, 'power'. That's_ _ **it**_ _!_ " Shadow thought. " _But would it even_ _ **work**_ _?_ "

 _ **BEEP-BEEP**_

" _Darn! Last minute! We have no time!_ "

Shadow then ran straight for and then **into** Chat Noir.

"Chaos Control!"

 _ **VOIP**_

Via chaos control, Shadow teleported to behind the skele-giant so that he could tell him his plan. It wasn't until they felt the ground shake beneath them, along with the dust clouds and large cracks being made in the floor, that Chat Noir and Shadow finally took a good look at the monster. It was at **that** moment that they finally realized how big the monster was becoming.

"Chat Noir, if we don't finish this fight soon, we'll lose for sure! I'm gonna need you to use your Cataclysm to keep that thing off me while _I_ go for Ladybug! With her help, we can make an opening for you to get to the chest."

"Are you kidding me?! Even if I **did** still have enough power in my miraculous, I can barely make a **dent** in that thing before it **rebuilds** itself!"

"Give me your hand!"

Chat Noir's eyes widened before shifting into a look on confusion as he raised his left hand up for Shadow to see it.

"Ugh, not **that** one! Your **ring**!" Shadow said before grabbing a hold of Chat's **right** hand so that he could see his black cat ring.

Just as he suspected, there was only **one** pad left. Shadow then held onto Chat's arm with his armpit, while removed one of his inhibitor rings.

"What are you doing?!"

Shadow's hand suddenly flared up with green energy. He then placed his hand on Chat Noir's ring.

"Buying us **both** some time. Chaos Surge!"

Shadow focused as much chaos energy as he could into the boy's magic ring, causing the pads to fill back up again.

"WHOA!"

Chat Noir suddenly felt a huge surge of power coursing through him. As Shadow released him, allowing Chat to step back, **both** of Chat's hands were suddenly filled with destructive magical energy, only it wasn't just in the form of black bubbles, his hands also released black bolts of magic with faint green auras.

"Wow! **Double** Cataclysms?!" He exclaimed.

Shadow stepped back panting.

"To be honest, I didn't think that would actually work."

"Guys! Incoming! Watch out!" They both heard Ladybug call out.

They turned around and saw that the skele-giant had finally noticed them. Using the back of one of its giant hands, it attempted to swat them off into the pit.

"Chat Noir! Touch it!" Shadow ordered.

Chat Noir ran straight for the hand and scratched at it with his claws. He saw that he seemed to be moving through the giant skeleton hand as all of the bones around him instantly started to change color due do them rotting away into dust. As soon as Chat Noir emerged from the other side, he turned around and could clearly see the magic reaching farther than last time. The destructive magic traveled up the arm, all of the way to the shoulder. For half a moment, to Shadow, it almost appeared as though the monster's shoulder came off **before** the magic got there.

" **RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUGGGGHHHHH!** " The skeleton roared in response to losing an entire arm in an instant.

Chat Noir and Ladybug both smiled at this while Shadow smirked at the fact that it actually worked.

"Woah!" Exclaimed Chat as he examined his hands. "And they're still going!"

Chat Noir then turned his hand over and looked at his ring.

 _ **BEEP-BEEP**_

"That was a powerful destructive attack." Shadow explained as he put his gold inhibitor ring back on, finally recovering from using his chaos power. "Attacks **that** powerful or more will reduce your time. Let's not waste anymore!"

Shadow pointed to something behind Chat Noir. He turned around and saw that it was one of the monster's hands attempting to crush them.

"Don't touch it, yet! This is our chance! **Move**!"

Chat Noir managed to jump out of the way and the let the hand slam behind him; unfortunately, he accidentally touched the floor upon landing.

"Oops." Was all he could say before falling through the floor.

Using his super speed, Shadow grabbed onto Chat Noir's wrist before he fell through.

"Thanks for the hand." He said, pulling Chat to safety.

"No jokes. Just destruction. Let's go." Shadow let him go on the floor and ran to the hand.

"Huh, that wasn't even a joke." Chat said to himself.

Chat Noir used his bow-staff, which was immune to his destructive power, to propel himself onto the hand with Shadow.

"Feel free to run on all fours to pick up speed and destroy as much of this thing as you can. Just be careful not fall through. Now, let's go!"

The two of them raced off, up the arm, Chat Noir taking Shadow's advice and running on all fours, causing the giant skeleton to lose more and more of its arm.

"Chat Noir, incoming on our right, get ready! Remember you only have to touch it! Save that energy for the chest!"

"Aye-aye, captain." Chat jump up and swiped his hand across the hand that was going to attack them, thus destroying.

With every hand that sprouted up and attacked, Chat Noir and Shadow destroyed it.

"I'm starting to really **like** these chaos power ups!"

As they soon got close to the hand that Ladybug was trapped in, the skele-giant raised his hand away from them, trying desperately to swat the heroes away.

"Chat Noir, give me a lift!" Shadow requested as he threw more chaos spears at the hands.

"How?! I destroy everything I touch!"

"Your **staff** , you idiot!"

"Oh, yeah." Chat Noir would've face-palmed if not for his super charged super powers.

He then reached behind him and tossed his bow-staff to Shadow. Shadow caught it and examined it for a second.

"The button on top—!"

"I know how it works!" Shadow interrupted him.

Since there were only two identical buttons, not counting the green paw print in the middle, it wasn't hard for Shadow guess which ones made it grow and shrink. He held the staff in a firm grasp on the arm and pushed the top button. While he was doing this, Chat Noir was busying himself with warding off every hand that reformed. The staff instantly extended toward the hand. Shadow grabbed ahold and made the staff reduce in size.

"Shadow!" Exclaimed Ladybug, happy to see her new friend.

Shadow grinned and nodded before looking at the hand that grabbed her.

"Hold still." He told her.

Shadow raised his hand up, focused his chaos power into it, slashed at the hand, and grabbed Ladybug before she fell.

"Thanks." She said to him.

"I have a plan to end this fight. Will you help?"

With determination in her eyes, Ladybug agreed.

"What do you need?"

"Your yoyo."

Surprised to by his request, Ladybug did not respond verbally. Instead, she looked at him with a curious expression. While Chat Noir kept the giant skeleton hands at bay, Shadow was telling her the rest of his plan. In the end, Ladybug gave Shadow one end of her yoyo while she held on to the other end.

"You ready?" Asked Ladybug.

"Let's get that emerald." Said Shadow before calling out to Chat. "Chat, I don't want to see a single hand!"

Shadow then threw the staff back to Chat Noir.

"Thanks, and you got it!" Chat responded before he began jumping from one hand to the other, continuously, destroying them on contact.

"Let's hurry!" Said Ladybug. "He can't keep it up forever!"

Without another word, the two of them jumped to the shoulders of the skeleton giant. When it saw this, it tried to sprout new limbs to stop them, but Chat Noir wouldn't allow this. Using his bow-staff to aid him, he was jumping to the walls then to the skeleton, destroying anything that looked like a lump growing out of it. Ladybug was standing on its right shoulder while Shadow was standing on the left.

"Now!" This was the signal that Shadow used to alert when they would simultaneously jump off of its shoulders and swing around on the indestructible wire that the yoyo used for a string to the opposite shoulder.

"WOO-HOO!" Ladybug cheered as she swung to the giant skeleton's left shoulder.

She did not stop. As soon as her feet touched bone, she kept running and then jumped off the shoulder so that she could swing to the other one. As for Shadow, he simply used the silent jets in his shoes to propel him forward so that he wouldn't need to stop. The giant skeleton tried to reach for them to stop them, but Chat Noir wouldn't allow that.

"That's enough!" Shadow called once they had revolved around it a total of five times.

They both landed on the shoulders again and Chat Noir ceased his intentional attacks so that he could get into position, only for Ladybug to jump off and for Shadow to jump as well so that he could catch her. Once he did so, he used his shoes propel the two of them to the weakened stone floor. The skele-giant was suddenly being pulled backwards. This was their plan, for the two of them to wrangle the giant monster by the neck bones and pull it back. This worked as a distraction because it was throwing it off balance and threatened to cleave the head from the body. The skele-giant was using all but **two** of its arms, desperately trying to keep its head on. Shadow was now holding on to both ends of the yoyo while Ladybug was running around the giant boney monster.

"Chat Noir, now's your chance!" She called to her partner.

"Got it!" Chat Noir responded.

Chat Noir started running up the monster and set his sights.

"I'm thinking of calling this my…"

He jumped for the left side of the chest and reached for it with both hands, focusing as much destructive power as he could.

"Chaos Cataclysm!"

His hands literally looked like they were erupting black lightning with green auras. He touched down on the monster's chest and the destructive magic immediately took effect. The bones were all turning to dust and the magic did not stop.

 _ **BEEP-BEEP**_

Only when he heard his miraculous start beeping, did he stop.

"It's all on you, M'lady." Chat Noir called out to Ladybug.

"I'm on it!" She responded.

She then proceeded to run up the monster.

"That emerald's as good as ours!"

As the skele-giant heard Chat Noir's comment, it soon realized what would come next. What happened next shocked everyone. The giant skeleton let go of its head, allowing Shadow to actually render it from its vertebrae and various other bones that it used to make up its giant neck, and threw all of its arms, sans the two that it was using hold itself up, forward to seal up the hole. The head fell apart as soon as it hit the ground. The sudden movement caused Ladybug and Chat Noir to be thrown off of the monster's chest. While Chat managed to land his feet on the stone floor, using his bow staff as support so that he wouldn't touch the ground, Ladybug just managed to save herself from falling into the pit by grabbing onto the giant skeleton's lower torso bones.

"Ladybug!" Chat exclaimed, looking over the edge.

The skeleton kept its hands on the hole, protecting its chaos emerald "heart".

"Chat Noir, go for the chest again! Hurry! Before it regenerates!" Shadow called the hero.

Chat Noir did just that by using his bow-staff throw himself directly at the monster. Landing on his feet, the force was enough push the skele-giant back, making its body tilt backwards. He put his staff away and held out his hands. Since it was using all of its free arms to protect the hole, it just made his job easier. Even **more** so since Chat Noir's chaos power up was still in effect. After retracting the yoyo string, Shadow used his speed to run up the walls and finally use chaos control to teleport himself directly above Chat.

"Chaos Cataclysm!" Chat Noir's hands erupted black lightning with green auras, again.

He planted them right on the hands, forcing his way through them and into the chest cavity, but he didn't stop there.

 _ **BEEP-BEEP**_

He didn't even stop when he heard his miraculous beep. He just continued to release more and more magical energy so to keep the skele-giant from regenerating. Thanks to Chat Noir's help, Shadow had a goal. He used the silent jets on his shoes to make him fall faster. He knew he couldn't spin-dash, but he could still fall. In a final attempt to save itself, the skeleton giant formed another giant hand coming out of its back.

 _ **BEEP-BEEP**_

The extra giant hand swung around, ready to flatten Chat Noir. Shadow didn't have time to warn him, so instead he waited until he was just passing him.

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow immediately threw a weak chaos spear right at Chat Noir's torso, knocking him away.

 _ **SLAM**_

The boney hand slammed on the hole and Chat Noir impacted on the stone floor.

 _ **BEEP-BEEP**_

His miraculous ran out of power forcing Plagg to be ejected from his ring and for _him_ to be turned back into Adrien. He wasn't hurt too badly, so he was quickly able to recover and see what was happening. The giant skeleton straightened up, clutching the hole with its giant appendage, and then soon regrew its head.

"Shadow!" Adrien called out, but there was no response.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't particularly like making Marinette a damsel in distress, but I can't think of any other good ways to help the story progress.

* * *

" **HHA-HA-HA-HA** … **AHA-HA-HA-HA** " The monster laughed at the silent response to Adrien's call, and then laughed some more. " **HA-HA-HA-HA-HA** … **AHHA-HA—** "

Suddenly, silence. The monster had stopped laughing. In fact, it had stopped moving all together. Adrien and Plagg both eyed it curiously and noticed that its chest was no longer glowing as brightly as it once did.

 _ **VOIP**_

"—Control!" Shadow appeared before the two of them in a flash of green light, glowing gem in hand.

"Whoa!" Exclaimed Adrien.

"Yikes!" Exclaimed Plagg.

"Mission…" Shadow said with a smirk as he proceeded to toss the emerald up only to catch it again, "… accomplished."

"Whew! Well it's about time!" Came Alya's voice.

Adrien, Plagg, and Shadow directed their attention to the source and saw Alya and Nino walking up to them, Alya still holding Shadow's backpack.

"Didn't we tell you to stay back there until it was safe?" Asked Shadow.

"Ye-ah… We got a little…curious." Said Alya. "But we certainly enjoyed the show."

Shadow rolled his eyes at this. Suddenly, Shadow and Adrien remembered something important.

"Marinette!" They said in unison.

Everyone quickly made their way to the ledge and looked down. They then saw Ladybug trying to navigate through the bones. When she saw them all looking at her, she gave them an unamused expression.

"Oh, no! Don't worry about me! I'm only trying to pull myself back up so I don't fall to my doom! You all just keep celebrating without me! I'm fine!" She said sarcastically.

"Uh, sorry!" Adrien apologized.

"You want some help?!" Asked Plagg.

" _(sigh)_ I'm **fine** , really!" She answered honestly. "But, aren't you supposed to be tired and hungry?!"

"Hungry, maybe, but not tired. Actually, I feel **great**!"

"Positive chaos energy leaves the body refreshed when the effects ware off." Shadow explained.

"Could one of you just toss me my yoyo so I don't have waste time climbing!" Asked Ladybug.

"Uh, right!"

Suddenly, just when Shadow was about to throw Ladybug her yoyo, the sound of crackling and bones hitting bones came to his ears. Everyone looked up and saw the giant skeleton falling apart. All of the bones were falling into the chasm.

"Uh, oh!" Ladybug said when she saw this.

She tried to climb faster, but with no magic to hold the bones together, they all soon fell apart at the slightest touch. Soon enough, the bones beneath her feet fell to pieces.

"Marinette!" They all screamed when they saw her falling.

"Chaos…!" Without thinking, Shadow teleported himself directly underneath Ladybug. "Control!"

He then activated the jets in his shoes to keep himself floating in midair and caught her.

"Are you alright?!" He asked as they floated in there.

"Yeah. Thanks, again." She replied. "Guess I owe you, again."

"You can repay me by not being it situations where I have to save you."

"Or I could just, I don't know, save _you_ for once."

" _Hmph_ , _you_ save _me_?" He commented with a smirk. "That'd be a sight."

Even as the bones of the deceased fell around them, she still found his comment to be charmingly humorous and giggled with a slight blush. Shadow couldn't help but smile genuinely at this. He was brought back to his senses when he saw her face flash into Maria's again.

"Ah!" He reacted with wide eyes.

"What's wrong?!" She worriedly asked.

He didn't answer her. He instead stopped looking at her and put on his signature look of indifference.

"Chaos Control."

 _ **VOIP**_

He instantly teleported them back up to the stone floor where he immediately let her down gently. She de-transformed as soon as her feet touched the solid surface.

"Marinette!" Exclaimed Adrien, throwing his arms around her. "Man, Marí, you keep this up, it'll be the death of me."

"I'll say." Said Alya, joining in the hug.

"If I **had** a physical heart, you'd probably give me a heart attack." Said Plagg before turning to Tikki. "How are _you_?"

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking." Tikki replied before giving her kwami friend a hug. "Since Marinette never used her Lucky Charm, I didn't use up too much magic."

"Dude, way to go with that awesome save!" Nino congratulated Shadow and planned to punctuate it with a high-five.

Shadow disregarded Nino's compliment, as well as his high-five, and looked at the fifth chaos emerald.

"Shadow? Are you okay?" Marinette asked once the hug had ended.

"I found the fifth emerald." He said.

"Technically _we_ found it." Said Adrien.

" **Technically** me and _Nino_ found it." Said Alya.

Shadow turned around and looked at all of them.

"We should leave. We've already defiled **enough** sacred ground."

As soon as he said this, everyone finally took noticed of the damage caused from the fight.

"Couldn't Marinette just fix it with her Miraculous Ladybug?" Asked Nino.

"She'd need to have used her Lucky Charm to do that, but there's no need to now." Explained Tikki.

Everyone soon found themselves looking at the destroyed parts of the cave.

"These catacombs have laid beneath Paris for **centuries**." Said Adrien. "And we just destroyed them in **minutes**."

"It wasn't _your_ faults." Said Tikki.

"Yeah, you wanna blame anybody, blame that giant, old bag of bones." Said Plagg.

"No. Blame me." Said Shadow.

"What?!" Questioned Marinette. "No, _you're_ not to blame for—!"

"If it wasn't for me being here in your world in the first place, none of this would've happened."

"Shadow," said Tikki, "you did what you had to to save your world. Even if it **didn't** have the outcome you desired, what you did was still **admirable**."

"I **saved** my world only to put _yours_ in danger."

"Dude, stop being such a downer." Said Adrien.

"Sure, you may have destroyed a… huge piece of Parisian history, but you did your best." Said Nino, earning him an elbow to the arm from his girlfriend. "Ow!"

"What Nino **means** to say is—"

"I know what he meant, but your words won't change the fact that we desecrated this chasm along with the thousands of bones belonging to long gone ancient Parisians." Shadow then walked over to the pit and took a knee.

Everyone gave his actions odd looks.

"Um, what is he doing?" Asked Plagg.

Suddenly, it dawned on Marinette **just** what he was doing.

"He's paying his respects." She said.

"Not just that." Said Shadow. "I'm praying for forgiveness to the spirits of those whose bones we've either cast into the pit or destroyed."

Hearing this, Adrien walked over to Shadow's side and knelt down to join him. Marinette was next to join them, soon followed by the others. Even the kwamis were floating beside their masters in prayer. They stayed there for a few minutes before Shadow arose and stepped back from the pit. He then held up the emerald in one hand and then outstretched his other.

"It's time for us to leave." He said to the others.

They all arose and walked over to him.

"Hands in." He told them.

They all placed a hand on Shadow's outstretched hand.

"Prepare yourselves, this may get… intense for you." Shadow held up the emerald for all to see, and it started to glow. "Chaos Control."

 _ **VOIP**_

They were gone in a flash of light, only to soon reappear in an alley on the surface of Paris. The sun was past the horizon line by the time they arrived and everyone could almost make out the moon in the sky. Soon, it would be dark out, but the city would still be illuminated by Paris' many lights.

* * *

Marinette had to explain to her parents on the phone why she was coming home so late; fortunately, she and the others managed to come up with a lie to tell their families. Adrien knew he was bound to get an earful from his father when he got home, but that didn't stop him from escorting Marinette home. Since he normally did so with the presence of company, be it only Plagg and Tikki or with Alya and Nino tagging along as well, he didn't mind all that much that Shadow was coming along with them. Although, after Alya and Nino had already gone to their _own_ homes, he was curious as to **why** Shadow was tagging along with them.

* * *

Earlier that day, before Shadow told them the truth about who and what he was, he and Marinette made a stop at her house to make a request.

"Anyway, to be frank;" Said Shadow. "I would like your permission to stay here with you until my time in the exchange program ends and I have to go home."

There was a moment of silence.

"So? What do you say, Mom and Dad?" Asked Marinette.

They looked unsure.

"Um, well…" Sabine began. "Where have you been staying since you first arrived?"

This question made Marinette nervous. She definitely couldn't tell them that he had been staying on her balcony the previous night.

"I was originally supposed to stay at a hotel, but due a clerical error, they wouldn't allow me to stay." Shadow lied. "My… er… school back home in Japan called and said that there was nothing they could do. So they left me with a choice: I could either give up on the exchange program or find some **other** place to stay here. For the time being, I've been staying at a shelter."

"Oh, my!" Sabine sounded deeply concerned.

"Come on, Mom and Dad." Said Marinette. "We can't just let him sleep in a homeless shelter for a week!"

"Marinette, please." Said Shadow. "It's _their_ decision. And I can understand if you say 'no', Mr. and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng."

The parents looked hesitant.

"Could you give us a minute, please." Asked Tom.

"Of course." Said Shadow.

Tom and Sabine walked into their kitchen area to discuss their decision. They sounded very concerned and unsure. After a few minutes of debating, they came back into the living room area.

"Shadow," said Tom, "we thought about it and… we've decided you can stay here."

"Really?!" Shadow and Marinette said in unison.

"If you **really** need a place to stay, then our home is your home." Said Sabine.

"You can stay in the guest room upstairs." Tom gestured to the door to the stairway as he said this.

"I-I… Thank you." Said Shadow, not believing that they were actually allowing him to stay. "… Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng."

"Oh, stop it." Said Sabine. "You can call us 'Tom' and 'Sabine'."

* * *

They had arrived at the Tom and Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie. As soon as they reached the door to the bakery, Adrien decided to ask the question that was on his mind.

"Alright, so, not that I mind or anything, but why are you tagging along with us?" Adrien asked Shadow.

Marinette felt suddenly nervous.

"Oh-! Well- You see-Funny you should mention that, um, because, uh—"

"Marinette's parents decided to take me in for the time being." Said Shadow, interrupting Marinette's stammering.

Adrien was surprised by this, that much was certain according to the look on his face.

"Oh." He said. "Well… that was nice of them."

Adrien gave a slightly forced smile, trying to calm the (what he found to be) awkward moment.

"Yes, it was. I was taken completely by surprise when they agreed to it." Shadow walked inside, but stopped in the doorway to say one last thing before closing it behind him. "I'll just be waiting inside so you can say goodnight."

As soon as he closed the door, Adrien crossed his arms and decided to clear the air.

"So, now he's living with you."

"Adrien, it's not like that. He just needed a place to stay."

Adrien took a moment before speaking again.

"Okay, but why with _you_?"

"He's taking cover as a foreign exchange student at the school and he needed someone to act as his legal caretaker and residence. And he doesn't have any money, so what else was he supposed to do? I couldn't just leave him to sleep on the streets."

"Okay, but _**why**_ is he pretending to be a foreign exchange student, again? I don't think we covered that part when he was telling us about himself."

"Well…" Marinette said nervously and hesitantly, worried it may not be her place to speak of Shadow's intentions, "there… may be a… chaos emerald somewhere at school?"

"What?! Seriously?!"

"Yes! That's why he needs to stay with me—er—my family for now. It's only to keep his cover."

"Please understand, Adrien. Shadow needs our help." Said Tikki, poking her head out of Marinette's bag.

Adrien gave a skeptical look and then took a deep breath.

"Alright. Then I guess it's okay." Adrien's look suddenly turned into a smile.

Marinette blinked in surprise at how his demeanor suddenly changed.

"It is?!"

"Yeah, I'm fine with it. Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just that… well… at first, you seemed… when you met him, you didn't seem to… like Shadow all that much… or at all."

"Yeah." Adrien scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "I guess I didn't really like how close you two were getting. It almost looked like… well…"

Marinette's surprised expression soon turned into a sly smirk which then quickly shifted into an innocent but knowing smile.

"Why, Adrien Agreste! Were you jealous?"

"Ah-heh. Yeah, I guess I was."

"Well, I actually think that's kind of sweet." Marinette said as she threw arms around him which he happily returned.

As they stayed in there loving embrace, Marinette slowly opened her eyes. With her head resting on her boyfriend's shoulder, she had a clear shot of her front door where she caught sight of a pair of crimson eyes staring back at her before suddenly moving away in surprise. She stared at the door for a moment.

"Um, Adrien?" Marinette asked as she stopped the embrace. "Could you call the others and tell them about the emerald at the school so that there's no more surprises?"

"Uh, sure. No problem, Marinette." She then gave Adrien a kiss goodnight, and went inside.

Shadow couldn't believe what he had just done. He spied on Marinette's moment with her boyfriend. Why did he do that?! He couldn't figure out a valid reason for his actions. Before he could ponder on it further, the sound of a bell ringing caught his attention. As Marinette walked in, she saw Shadow with his back to her.

"Um… Shadow?"

"I'm heading upstairs now. Goodnight, Marinette."

Shadow rushed up the stairs in a black and red blur immediately after saying goodnight.

"What was **that** all about?" Asked Tikki.

"I'm not sure." Marinette replied.

After walking up the stairs, Marinette found that she was just in time for dinner, but when she asked about Shadow's whereabouts, Tom and Sabine surprised their daughter by saying they thought he was with _her_. Apparently, when he hurried up the stairs, Shadow went straight to the guest-bedroom. About an hour later, Marinette had just finished her new cape when she heard a faint noise on her balcony. She and Tikki poked their heads out of her trapdoor and saw Shadow looking out at the city.

When Shadow heard movement at the trapdoor, he didn't bother trying to leave. He didn't even move when the door opened and Marinette stepped onto the balcony with Tikki floating beside her. Shadow tried to focus on the view before him while Marinette tried to think of something to say. After what just happened in the bakery, Marinette actually wasn't sure what to think. Was it rude? Well, **yes**. Was it bad? Not… **entirely**. She wasn't mad at him, but she definitely wasn't happy with him, either. As the three of them remained there on the balcony, Shadow still having his back to Marinette, the awkward silence that filled the air was almost suffocating. Tikki was just confused as to why they were acting so strangely all of a sudden.

"What a city. I haven't had a chance to see much of it. However, even though it isn't much, the view from here looks… very nice." The girls smiled after hearing Shadow say this. "Tell me, what is that large tower all lit up?"

"That's the Eiffel Tower." Marinette walked up to the railing beside Shadow as she said this. "It's the pride and joy of all of France."

"It's beautiful."

"You know, maybe tomorrow after school, Tikki and I can take you to see more of Paris." Marinette suggested.

"Great idea, Marinette!" Said Tikki, glad to hear them talking again. "What do you think, Shadow?"

Shadow pondered the thought for a moment.

"Well, I suppose it could be beneficial for my search for the last two emeralds."

Even though this was half-true, it was actually more of an excuse than a reason. Shadow was actually curious about this world's architecture… that and he just wanted to see more of the city.

"Alright."

"Great, it's a date." She said cheerfully.

For the next six seconds, the three of them looked out at the beautifully lit Eiffel Tower from a distance.

"Wait, what?!" Shadow asked in surprised realization as soon as he realized what Marinette had just said.

The second it finally dawned on Marinette as well, she started to madly blush and went right into one of her nervous fits, again.

"Uh…! I mean, not a date! That is to say, not a **date** -date. What I meant was a date like on a calendar, y'know?! Nothing romantic what-so-ever! I mean, why would it be? I have a boyfriend. I mean, you _are_ a boy and you _are_ my friend, but **Adrien's** my boyfriend. You're just my boy **friend**. Eh-heh-heh-heh…"

Shadow just stared at her for a moment before rolling his eyes.

"Right."

Even though he hadn't been in that world for very long, he was already starting to understand what to expect, especially from Marinette.

"So, tomorrow after school?" Asked Tikki.

"Sure." Shadow answered.

"Great!" Said Marinette.

* * *

The next morning, Shadow woke up from a mild nightmare to an unfamiliar setting. "Unfamiliar" meaning that he had actually forgotten for a moment that he was sleeping in the Dupain-Cheng's guest bedroom. At the foot of his bed, he found a pile of clothes with a box containing his colored contact lenses and a note on top. It was then that he remembered something and looked down. He was still wearing the same clothes that he had worn since he first arrived here. He looked to the nightstand beside his bed and saw his treasured photograph. He picked it up, got out of bed and inspected the note that was laid on top of the clothes.

 _Dear Shadow, I left these because I realized something. You have been wearing the same thing since the day I met you. At first, I just thought that you had a bunch of the same outfit, but then I remembered that when you moved in, the only clothes that you brought with you were the ones you were wearing and that hoodie in your backpack. So, I left these for you. You can use our shower and wear these. I made them for Adrien, so they may be a little small. If you can give me your measurements, I can make more clothes for you if you want. I also left these brown colored contacts that you can wear. Now you don't have to worry about anyone seeing your red eyes._

 _~Marinette_

 _P.S. Be sure to knock on the bathroom door before entering and remember to lock it when you're using it._

Shadow couldn't help but smile at Marinette's generosity and kindness, but then stopped and dropped his face when he realized that she had once again done something nice for him and he had no way of returning the favor. So that he wouldn't forget later on, Shadow placed his photo inside the new pair of pants that were provided. After a shower and dressing himself (the clothes that Marinette had left for him really **were** small. There was no way he could fit the yellow and blue emeralds inside of his pockets. Regardless, they still seemed to fit well enough inside of his backpack), Shadow joined the Dupain-Chengs at breakfast. Everyone wished him good morning which he returned, and Sabine gladly served him breakfast.

"Oh!" Exclaimed Sabine.

"Is something wrong, Miss Sabine?" Asked Shadow.

"Oh, no. It's just… this is the first time I've actually noticed your eyes."

"Yeah." Said Marinette. "You look good Shadow."

Once again, Shadow couldn't help but smile at Marinette's compliment, but Marinette couldn't help but blush and avert her eyes when she saw him smile. After breakfast, Shadow and Marinette left for school.

* * *

The day progressed similar to the previous. Shadow took (pointless) notes, Nathaniel was happy to aid him whenever he needed it (which he did, being an interdimensional foreigner and all). It was at the end of class when Shadow noticed something fall out of Nathaniel's backpack. He picked it up and discovered that it was a hand drawn picture of someone he knew.

"Marinette?" He questioned, seeing her image drawn on paper (rather well, he had to admit).

" _Gah_!" Exclaimed Nathaniel when he noticed his sketch in Shadow's hand before swiping it away and quickly stuffing it into his bag. "Please don't tell her! I know she's dating Adrien, but…"

Nathaniel looked over at Marinette and Shadow followed his gaze and ended up looking at her as well. Nathaniel released a sigh of shame and fell back against the wall.

"I'm a terrible friend, aren't I?"

"No. I completely understand." Said Shadow, still staring at Marinette.

"You like her, too?!" Nathaniel asked in surprise and to the surprise of Shadow.

"What?! No! I only… uh, meant that… I get what you're saying. Not that I can relate!"

Shadow saw him smirking at something and scowled at it.

"What?" He asked darkly.

"Oh, sorry!" Said Nathaniel, stopping his smirk. "It's just that that blush makes it hard to believe you."

Shadow's eyes widened and he looked away from Nathaniel. It was then that he realized that his face was suddenly warm.

" _It couldn't be_ ," he thought to himself, " _could it?_ "

Shadow immediately got up, grabbed his bag and quickly walked away. Marinette and the others tried to get his attention, but he didn't say anything. He just kept walking until Chloé grabbed him at the shoulder just as he was about to walk out the door.

"I know what you've been thinking," she said, "and maybe if it's somewhere nice, I might consider letting you ask me out on a date."

Shadow clenched his fist and pulled his shoulder away from her so he could leave.

"Hey!" Chloé exclaimed irritated disbelief, but Shadow just ignored her.

* * *

At lunch, Shadow sat on the roof of the building trying to figure himself out. Why did the thought of Marinette make him blush? Was it because of her resemblance to…

"No, that isn't right." He said in French, despite being all alone. "But then, **why**?!"

Shadow was wracking his brain so much trying to figure this out, that it took the sun being reflected off of a shiny surface to bring him back to… Earth. Shadow looked down below and saw that dark haired girl, Juleka, sitting next to another girl dressed in pink, Rose. Shadow often saw these two together and thought that this fact made the two of them stand out seeing as how they appeared to be complete opposites.

The sun's shine was being reflected off of something that Juleka appeared to be holding. He looked at the second floor and saw a what he hoped would be a good enough blind spot, which he teleported to. He walked around and saw that Juleka had a small mirror tied to the back of her hand. Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that she was letting Rose do her make-up and was using her mirror to see what she was doing. From what he could see, Juleka wasn't opposed to the treatment, but she didn't look too pleased about it, either. Shadow rolled his eyes at this action and walked away. He would've decided to take this time to look around for the emerald if it weren't for one thing.

"So about that giant gem you found." Shadow froze as soon as he heard Rose say this. "Do you think it's a ruby?"

"I don't know what it is, but it's big and glowing." Shadow heard Juleka say.

"Did you bring it with you, again?"

"It's in my bag." Shadow spun on his heel and looked down to see Juleka's bag by her feet. "I've been keeping it with me since I found it."

"Like a good luck charm?"

"Maybe, I guess."

From what Shadow could hear, it sounded like the red emerald was with **her** all this time. Juleka must have found it and had been keeping it this entire time. Now, Shadow knew where it was, he just needed to figure out how to get it. He could probably dash past her, or maybe stop time, or perhaps—

"Hey, Shadow, what's up?" Nino surprised Shadow with his greeting.

"Do you mind?" Shadow asked, annoyed.

"What's your problem?"

"I think I just found what I've been looking for."

Nino followed his gaze and saw only Juleka and Rose.

"Oh-ho, I get'cha." Nino slyly grinned and nudged Shadow's arm. "You see someone you like? Who's the lucky girl? It's Juleka, isn't it?"

Shadow's eyes widened at this accusation. His annoyed state rose, but he quickly calmed himself down before speaking.

"First of all, **no**. Second of all, I'm not really human, so I don't feel that way toward other humans." Shadow was not only telling that to Nino, but also himself. "And finally, I was talking about the chaos emerald."

"Woah, really?!"

" _(shush)_ Do you want to let everyone in on what we know?!" Shadow whispered.

"Sorry, man!" Nino whispered back.

While the two of them were talking, Rose caught sight of a certain someone watching them.

"Hey, Juleka, don't look now, but I think Shadow's looking at you."

Juleka immediately blushed upon hearing this. Rose pointed up and Juleka followed her finger to see Shadow talking to Nino. Shadow and Nino both looked down and saw Juleka and Rose looking at them. Shadow immediately looked away and spun Nino around with him at almost the exact same time as Juleka and Rose did.

" **Darn** it!" Shadow whispered. "They saw us."

"We'd better tell the others." Suggested Nino.

"Right."

Juleka and Rose chanced a glance back up and saw them walk away.

"Oh my gosh, Juleka! I think he likes you!"

Juleka blushed even more at this and started playing with her hair.

"I don't know about that."

"Why else would he be looking at you like that?"

Juleka thought that it was a nice thought but didn't want to get her hopes up.

* * *

Later…

"What?!" Asked Alya when Nino and Shadow told her, Adrien and Marinette the news.

"Yeah." Said Shadow. "We overheard them talking about a 'giant gem' that was 'big and glowing'. I don't know for sure, but it definitely **sounded** like they were describing the red emerald."

"Well, how _can_ you know for sure?"

"By taking her bag and looking inside. From what I heard, she's been keeping it with her everywhere she goes as a good luck charm."

"I always _did_ think the colors: red, black and blue were lucky." Adrien half-joked while looking at his girlfriend.

Marinette giggled while Alya smirked at Adrien's flirting and Shadow and Nino just rolled their eyes, Nino smiling since this was the norm, but Shadow frowning in annoyance.

"Wait, black and blue?" Questioned Marinette.

"Black like your spots and—"

"Blue like your bluebell eyes." Said Shadow as he interrupted Adrien.

Marinette smiled at this, but Adrien didn't.

"I was going to say that." Adrien said in annoyance.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Shadow turned away in embarrassment.

"So… you want us to steal from one of our friends?" Alya asked while crossing her arms.

"No… _I'm_ going to steal it."

Shadow was hoping there wouldn't be any objections, but there were.

"No, you're not." Shadow stared at Marinette in curious surprise when he heard her say that.

"Marinette, that gem is extremely dangerous."

"Not if she never says 'chaos control'." Said Nino.

"This isn't a joke! If her thoughts turn dark and her will is strong enough, she could activate its **dark** properties. It could either corrupt her and make her a serious threat or it could severely harm her."

"I don't think we have to worry about that." Said Adrien. "Juleka may appear dark on the outside, but she's actually really nice, especially when she's around Rose."

"Yeah, I'm sure she'll be fine." Said Plagg, passively as he ate his cheese.

"And what if someone **else** manages to steal it from her? Chaos energy is unpredictable in the hands of the uninitiated and unsuspecting if they manage to activate it. It could send them to the moon!" Shadow was starting to raise his voice. "Or they could end up leveling part of a city! The list goes on of how many things can go wrong when the wrong person has a chaos emerald! And may I remind you that I need all **seven** if I want to have **any** chance getting back **home**?! Or maybe none of you even—!"

"Shadow!" Marinette raised her _own_ voice to interrupt him when she noticed that the shade of his brown contacts looked lighter than usual and that the skin around his eyes was reddening.

Shadow deathly glared at her with his teeth bared and his fists clenched. He looked like he was ready to tear something apart… or some _one_. Even before Shadow's face of pure rage, she did not falter, for she kept her own stern glare. Before she started talking again, she took a breath to calm herself down and gave him a soft look of mutual concern.

"Shadow, please take a minute." After all the time that she had spent with Shadow, Marinette was starting to understand him more and more, and it showed at this moment, for Shadow did just that and in a manner of minutes (plus some strained groaning followed by some exhausted panting), he was himself again. "I understand you're worried and that you want to get home as soon as possible. We're doing everything we can to help you, but _you_ still have to understand that this is _our_ world. We don't steal from our friends unless there are no other options."

" _(pant) (pant)_ And what other options _are_ there?"

Marinette looked away and held her chin in thought. She knew that they needed to get this emerald, but she didn't want to steal it from Juleka.

"Give me until after lunch tomorrow. I'll talk to her to see if she's willing to part with it."

"And if she's _not_?"

Marinette thought it over but no contingency came to mind.

"Then we'll try something else." She said, hoping to end the discussion there.

"Like what?"

"Um… We'll cover that if it comes to it."

"… Fine, but if there **is** no other option, then we'll go with **my** plan."

" _(inhale) (sigh)_ Fine."

With that in mind, Marinette hoped that she could come up with something if the situation came down to it.

"Alright, now that we've covered that, I have to ask, cuz' it's been bugging me all day. Shadow," Alya looked him right in the eye, "Why are you wearing such small clothes?"

Both Shadow's and Marinette's eyes widened at this, but Marinette was the only one who's cheeks were turning red.

"Marinette loaned me some of the clothes she made for Adrien."

Adrien raised an eyebrow at this.

" _Why_?" He asked.

"Because I have nothing else."

"But… he will soon!" Marinette quickly added. "I just need his measurements so I can make him some new clothes!"

"Why not just buy yourself a new outfit?" Asked Nino.

"Because I have no money?" Said Shadow

"You didn't think to fill up those pockets with cash before your space mission?" Alya joked.

"I didn't think I would be going anywhere else."

"So you just showed up here with nothing but what you were wearing?" Asked Plagg.

"Don't forget that hoodie and backpack." Said Adrien.

Shadow's eyes widened at this, for that was something they didn't know about.

" _(ahem)_ Actually, I… uh, didn't already have those."

"What do you mean, Shadow?" Asked Tikki.

"Please try to understand that I wasn't truly myself at the time. My hoodie and backpack… I actually stole them from a store while I was still under the influence of the akuma's dark power."

Everyone was surprised to hear this.

"You stole them?!" Asked Marinette.

"Yes. While I was in that darkened state, I thought that it would better serve me if the need ever arose for me to wear a disguise. And that backpack was so I'd have something to carry the chaos emeralds in since my pockets didn't exactly have that much room. I was planning to return them, but I realized that I would probably need them, so… I kept them."

"Wow, so you've been a thief this whole time." Said Alya.

"Alya!" Said Marinette.

"No, she's right." Said Shadow. "Think what you all will about me, but understand this: I don't like having to resort to stealing, but if there is no other option, I **will**."


	3. Chapter 3

The school day ended and everyone was on their way home. Adrien was walking Marinette out of the building.

"My Lady," he said, bowing in a similar fashion to his superhero persona, "would you do me the honor of allowing me to treat you to an after school luncheon?"

Marinette giggled at his display. He straightened up and opened his arms wide, allowing her to embrace him. She kissed his cheek after he wrapped his arms around her.

"Is that a yes?"

"What do _you_ think?" She was about to give him a real kiss when Tikki interrupted them.

"But Marinette, what about Shadow?"

"What?!" Adrien questioned, hoping he heard her wrong.

"Oh, that's right!" Marinette said, remembering their agreement before she stepped back and out of Adrien's arms. "Sorry, Adrien, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to take a raincheck. Shadow and I already have plans."

Adrien's eyes widened as he heard this.

"Shadow?!" Adrien questioned again.

"What 'plans'?" Asked Plagg as he stuck his head out of Adrien's pocket.

"Well, we—"

"No, really. I want to know how much that paper costs." Shadow's voice caught their attention and the two kwamis went back to hiding when they saw who he was with. "I plan to pay back every last… er, amount."

"It's okay. Consider it a gift from a friend." Shadow was talking to Nathaniel as they both walked out of the building.

"I have far too many… **friends** who do far too much for me." They both stopped walking when they reached the sidewalk. "I've been given enough 'gifts'. I plan to pay them all back, and that includes **you** , Nathaniel."

"Really, it's fine. You don't have to go through the trouble."

"Fine, I'll just asked someone else." Shadow said, rolling his eyes at his classmate's (annoying) generosity. "But expect me to pay you back by the end of the week."

"Sure, but don't expect me to get my hopes up. Uh, no offense! See you tomorrow, Shadow." Nathaniel said as he walked away.

"Of course." Shadow said as he waved him farewell.

" _(giggle)_ It's nice to see you making friends, Shadow." Tikki poked her head out so that she could speak.

Shadow didn't turn around, but still rolled his eyes at the kwami's assumption. He didn't **really** consider Nathaniel a friend. At most, he considered him a very kind and helpful acquaintance.

"So, we hear you two have 'plans'." Said Plagg, using his tendrils to make air quotes.

"Huh?" Shadow turned around to face the four of them.

"He means you and Marinette." Said Tikki.

"Oh! Yeah, we do." Shadow confirmed.

"What kind of plans?" Asked Adrien, trying his hardest to not sound too suspicious.

"We're going to give him a tour around Paris, right Tikki?"

"Yep." The kwami agreed with her holder.

"Getting to know the lay of the land may help me in my search for the final chaos emerald." Said Shadow.

"But first, I should get your measurements. We can't have you stretching out all of my boyfriend's new clothes."

"Alright. I definitely don't want to have to wear these constricting clothes for longer than I have to."

"Maybe we can get lunch **tomorrow** after school." Marinette told Adrien before giving him a kiss of the cheek.

"Yeah, sure." He said to her with a weak smile.

"Come on, Shadow. Let's get your measurements."

With that, the two of them walked away, leaving Adrien and Plagg there in front of the school as they waved them off. Not long after this, Adrien sighed at his misfortune.

* * *

Shadow was standing in Marinette's room while Marinette was using a tape measure to measure Shadow's shapes and a pencil to write them down on a notepad. There were some awkward moments, such as when Marinette wrapped her arms around him to figure out his waist size or when she measured his neckline from the front rather than the back. That one was especially awkward when Marinette pulled her head up from reading the tape and found that their faces were a little too close together. She gave a surprised exclamation as they stepped away from each other. Shadow almost fell back. She just went right back to writing, but the level of awkwardness was so high, one could almost smell it.

"Your room is very… pink." Shadow said, hoping to quell the awkwardness.

"Um… thank you?" It wasn't working.

Things were silent for the time being as she got his arm measurements. They avoided each other's gazes.

"I appreciate you doing this for me, but it's just another item on a growing list of actions to pay back."

" _(sigh)_ I wish you would stop doing that."

"Doing **what**?"

"Talking like you **have** to pay us back. Can't you just accept a **few** things as gifts?"

"I _could_ , but this is too many gifts. It makes me feel like a charity box."

" _(sigh)_ "

As she wrote down the measurements, Shadow decided to ask a question.

"How did you learn to do all of this?"

"I was self-taught."

"Marinette's dream is to one day become a famous fashion designer." Said Tikki.

"I see." Said Shadow. "Well, make sure you make my pant pockets big enough. In case of an emergency, I'll need to have quick access to a chaos emerald."

Marinette and Tikki found this request to be humorous and giggled a little. Shadow didn't find it humorous but decided to let them enjoy a little laughter. At least the air of awkwardness seemed to subside. By now, Marinette was already at her work station working on some design ideas that came to her head. Shadow took this time to sit down.

"So," Marinette said as she drew, "what are designers like in _your_ world."

Shadow never really had much interest in such things, but despite this, he thought this topic over.

"Well, there _is_ one I heard of once before. I believe her name was Honey the Cat, but that's pretty much all I know about her."

"Wow. Does everyone in your world have an odd sounding name?"

"Not really, but most do."

Once again, Shadow was treated to the sound of Marinette's childish giggles.

"Your people are called Mobians, right, Shadow?" Asked Tikki.

"Yeah, they are."

"And Mobians are anthropomorphic animals, right?"

"Yes."

"Animals like lions and tigers and bears."

" _(giggle)_ Oh, my!" Marinette giggled.

The joke seemed to go right over Shadow's head.

"Well, not just mammals. **All** classifications like birds, reptiles, and fish."

"Wow!" Marinette said with genuine surprise.

This information surprised both Marinette _and_ Tikki.

"I bet clothes shopping for a fish can be tough." Tikki joked.

"I wouldn't know. I've never met a Mobian fish. But I don't think it really matters. It's not like they _need_ to wear clothes or anything." Said Shadow.

At first, Marinette and Tikki stopped what they were doing for a moment, but then Marinette started giggling followed by Tikki.

"Oh, you're joking." Marinette assumed.

"Um… No. No, I'm not." Marinette and Tikki stopped laughing upon hearing Shadow say this. "Oh, that's right. I forgot to mention that Mobian culture is clothing optional."

"What?!" Marinette's first thought was that this was a joke, but then she remembered that this was **Shadow** that she was talking to.

"Most Mobians, usually males, don't normally wear clothes except for shoes and gloves. Unless, of course, they hold a position of power."

Marinette didn't know what to say about this.

"So… you mean they just… walk around… with nothing on?" Marinette hesitantly asked.

"Most do. Others, mostly women, prefer to wear more clothing." Shadow answered.

"So… what about _you_?" Asked Tikki.

"I'm usually fine with just my gloves and air shoes."

"So, that means…" Marinette started, "before you came here… you were…"

"I know, Humans don't **have** fur, feathers or even scales, which is why all of them wear clothes. That's why I'm glad I showed up here _with_ clothes. I know as much about Human culture as I do about **Mobian** culture. We have **Humans** on Mobius, you know."

"You do?!" Marinette turned around as she said this.

"Yes. My superiors are Humans. My creator was Human. Dr. Eggman is Human. Both species have coexisted beside each other ever since the end of the Great War."

Marinette just continued drawing as she took this all in and thought about it, but her mind often went back to the "clothing optional" topic. She shook her head once or twice… or more whenever the image of her newest friend… never mind. Tikki and Shadow noticed her mental issues and figured out the cause pretty quickly. Tikki quickly thought up a topic that she hoped would help.

"What about animals that _aren't_ anthropomorphic?" The spotted kwami asked.

Shadow found her question to be a little bit… from out of nowhere, but quickly figured out the reason.

"Oh! Well, we either call those mobini or just animals. They're different because they're just regular animals. Some walk on two legs like Mobians, but they lack standard Mobian intelligence. Most bipedal mobini don't exceed 12 inches tall."

Marinette listened intently. The image of tiny animals walking on two legs entered her mind and she didn't have a problem with it. With this idea now filling her imagination, she smiled.

" _(giggle)_ They sound adorable!" She said.

"I guess." Shadow commented.

Shadow and Tikki smiled at the fact that she had something _else_ to think about.

"What do they look like?" Asked Tikki.

"Imagine a stuffed toy that was alive and had flesh and blood instead of fabric and stuffing."

As Marinette drew her designs, she and Tikki continued to ask Shadow numerous questions about Mobius, and Shadow answered… **most** of them. After a while, she finished her designs and started working on making the actual clothing. All of the while, Shadow continued to speak. He told them about the ecosystem, the landscapes, even the cities. He even mentioned the Freedom Fighters a few times.

"So is that what _you_ are? You're a Freedom Fighter?" Asked Marinette.

"No, I work for… different people." Said Shadow.

"What do you mean by 'different people'?" Asked Tikki.

"We still protect Mobius from all threats, but we usually stay close to home and only aid our allies."

"Wait…" Marinette stopped working as realization hit her. "Shadow… are you a soldier?"

"… I'm afraid that's all I can say."

As she started working again, Marinette thought about Shadow's world, Mobius.

"Your world sounds beautiful, Shadow."

"It isn't perfect… but it _is_ my home."

"I can imagine being homesick." Said Tikki. "That's exactly how _I_ felt when I was once separated from Marinette."

Suddenly, a thought came to Marinette. It was a thought that she had been thinking about for some time, but didn't want to bring up until now.

"Shadow?"

"Hm?"

"… What did you look like…? As a Mobian, I mean."

Shadow found this to be an odd question, but he decided to enlighten her. He got up and walked over to where she was working. He surprised her a little as he appeared at her side. He held his arm out in front of her and touched the red part attached to his gold ring. Tikki flew next to Marinette so that she could see. At first, a strange logo that resembled a red spiral with spikes coming out of it appeared, but after Shadow fiddled with the hologram a bit, like a touchscreen, and suddenly, a _another_ holographic image appeared before Marinette. The image had three "people" in it. The thing was, none of them were human.

One was obviously a woman. She appeared to be a Mobian Bat (at least she guessed she was, mostly based on the wings). Her hair was white and her eyes were teal. She wore a black, skintight jumpsuit that had a pink, heart-shaped chest plate. She had white gloves that reached her upper arms, and white, thigh-high, high heeled boots with pink hearts on the toes. Next to her was what Marinette could only possibly label as a **robot**. It was massive in size. Its color scheme consisted of red, yellow, black and some chrome. It had red eyes, a red "omega" symbol on its left shoulder and its hands were like long claws.

Finally, standing in the very front was a spikey, black rodent with red eyes, a large patch of white fur on his chest, and red stripes on his forehead, arms and legs, and although she could only see a small part of them, on the spines on his head. He wore white gloves with gold rings and red plates on his hands and had shoes that were exactly the same as Shadow's. All three of them were holding a single hand to their foreheads in a saluting manner, but only the robot appeared to be saluting normally. The bat woman had her free hand on her hip, and the rodent had his free arm across his chest as if both were originally crossed.

"This is my team, Team Dark."

Marinette stared at them for a moment but then pointed at the image of the black rodent.

"Is this _you_?" She asked.

"Yes."

"Wow…! You look so cute."

Shadow shut off the image and pulled his hand away as he glared at her with red on his face.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean… uh…"

"She meant no disrespect, Shadow." Said Tikki.

Shadow gritted his teeth and rolled his eyes.

"Can you just hurry up so we can—?!" When Shadow's eyes passed over the window, he finally noticed how dark it was.

"Oh, my!" Said Tikki when she also took notice.

"I guess we spent so much time talking, we lost track of time. Mom's not going to let us out **now**." Said Marinette.

" _Hmph_ , so, now what?" Asked Shadow.

"We can always try again tomorrow." Suggested Tikki.

"Fine."

"I'll keep working on your clothes, Shadow." Marinette said as he left the room.

Shadow closed the door behind… er, above him as he climbed down the stairs.

"I think you should just make him something simple for school, tomorrow." Said Tikki as she saw how much Marinette had already done. "You don't have a lot of time to make him something elaborate."

" _(sigh)_ You're right, Tikki. But it's still too bad. I actually have something in mind that I think he'll really like… Maybe if I'm quick but careful, I can still finish it."

"Just make sure you don't stay up for **too** long Marinette."

The next morning, Shadow found another pile of clothes at the foot of his bed. It was just a simple red T-shirt and black pants, but he figured it would suffice. He got dressed and sighed in relief to find that the new clothes fit him just right.

" _Hmph_ , thank you, Marinette." He said as he looked himself over in the mirror.

Before long, he was in the kitchen sitting himself down for breakfast.

"Good morning, Shadow." Said Sabine as she placed a plate of food before him.

"Good morning, Sabine." He greeted her in return before noticing that no one else was in the room. "Where's Marinette?"

"Probably still asleep. She was up later than she was supposed to, last night."

Shadow realized that this was probably because she was busy making his outfit, but it was so simple, he was surprised that it would take so long… unless she didn't stop with just **one**.

" _(sigh)_ Allow me to wake her up." He said as he got out of his seat while her back was turned.

"Oh, don't worry. _You_ eat, _I'll_ —" Sabine stopped in her tracks when she turned around and noticed that Shadow was nowhere in sight.

Shadow had sped up the stairs to Marinette's bedroom trapdoor.

"Marinette, get up." He called as he knocked. "It's time for school. Come get your breakfast before you're late, again."

No answer.

"Marinette!" He called louder as he knocked harder.

"She's probably still asleep!" Sabine called from below.

" _(sigh)_ "

Suddenly, Shadow was caught by surprise by the sound of bumps and cluttering that came from the room along with the sounds of a teenaged girl's exclamations.

"Uh…" Was all that he could say in response.

"She's awake!" Called Sabine.

"I'm awake!" Marinette called in a groan-like fashion.

By the time she got dressed and came downstairs, Shadow had already finished eating.

"Better eat quick so we aren't late." He said, grabbing his backpack and walking out of the room. "I'm going to do a last minute check to make sure I have everything."

With that, he closed the door behind him and Marinette went straight to eating.

"I see his clothes fit today." Said Sabine. "I guess I can let you staying up late slide this **one** time."

"Thanks, Mom." Said Marinette.

" _At least she doesn't know the_ _ **real**_ _reason why I was up so late._ " She thought to herself.

When Shadow was sure that he had everything, he went down to the bakery to wait for Marinette. Upon arriving downstairs, he walked in on Tom in the middle of baking. The scent of freshly baked bread and other baked goods came to his nostrils. He looked and saw some already finished delicacies. It all smelled so heavenly.

" _(sigh)_ "

"Huh?" Tom turned and saw Shadow standing behind him. "Oh, good morning, Shadow. Is Marinette still upstairs?"

"Yeah." Shadow looked around at the finished cakes and such as he made an observation. "You are a culinary artist."

Tom scratched his head and smiled bashfully.

"Aw, shucks. I'm no better than most Parisian bakers."

Shadow walked over to the already finished goods.

"I'd beg to differ." Shadow wafted the steam toward him and took a big whiff. "You put the ingredients together perfectly along with some special ones to make some of the recipes your own."

"That's some nose you got there." Tom commented as he put the readied dough into the oven. "What can you smell?"

Shadow took another wafted whiff of the baked goods.

"Cinnamon…" a few more sniffs later, " and I'm also detecting a small hint of lemon."

"Impressive. You've got the nose of a master chef."

" _Hmph_ , I dabble in the culinary arts, a bit." Shadow's smirked for a second before looking at the wrists of his crossed arms. "I learned when I was… younger. I'd often bake and cook for my… family... with some help... Nowadays, I… When you live on your own, best to learn to take care of yourself."

Tom was going to say something when Marinette came downstairs.

"Shadow, we've gotta go!" She exclaimed as she came in before giving her father a kiss on the cheek. "Morning, Papa!"

"Morning, Honey."

With that, she proceeded to push Shadow through the bakery.

"Bye!" She called just before they were out the door where she proceeded to speak to Shadow. "C'mon, we're late!"

Shadow rolled his eyes as he heard this and stopped her by grabbing one of her arms and planting his feet firmly on the ground.

"What are you doing?!" She asked as she tried to pull her arm free.

Shadow said nothing as he led her to the side of the bakery.

"I'll just teleport us in." He said as he held her close.

"Oh-ho, no you don't! What if someone sees you?!"

"Fine," he said as he lifted her off of her feet making her "meep" in surprise, "we'll do it the old-fashioned way."

Shadow took off in a black and red blur. Before Marinette realized what was happening, she soon found that she was standing in an empty locker room. Shadow had put her down upon arriving.

"And no one noticed anything aside from a sudden gust of wind." He told her.

She _was_ going to scold him for once again using his powers in public, but he stopped her by placing a finger in front of her lips.

"Before you scold me, I'd like to point out that if we're not in class before the second bell, we'll be marked tardy."

With that, she took a breath and followed him out of the locker-room and then straight to class.

"Not tardy, again, girl. I guess having a roommate with super speed and teleportation powers has its perks." Alya commented when Marinette sat down beside her.

* * *

Throughout class, Shadow had often caught Juleka glancing at him and smiling. He found this odd, but didn't think much of it since most of the girls in the school often looked at him like that. At lunch hour, Shadow joined Marinette and her friends so that they could discuss something.

"Shadow, glad to see you wearing clothes that weren't loaned from someone else." Commented Alya.

"Sorry it wasn't anything fancy, but I didn't have that much time to make something." Said Marinette.

"They're fine." Said Shadow.

It wasn't long until Tikki caught sight of Juleka sitting down with two friends.

" _Psst_!" Tikki caught their attention and continued to whisper. "Juleka's over there!"

They looked without turning their heads all the way around and saw her sitting with Rose and Mylène, another girl Shadow had seen in class. Marinette decided that now was as good a time as any. With Tikki hurrying into her bag, Marinette excused herself from the table, got up and walked over to the three girls. They happily greeted her and she returned the greeting. She sat down with them and talked. Shadow and the others couldn't hear what was going on, so they weren't sure what it was that they were talking about. Shadow was currently hoping that Marinette could convince Juleka to part with the emerald. Then, Juleka lifted up her backpack, unzipped it and showed its contents to her friends.

"Wow!" Marinette exclaimed. "It's beautiful!"

" _That is_ _ **definitely**_ _a chaos emerald._ " She thought.

"I know, right?" Said Rose.

"Where did you get it?" Mylène asked Juleka.

"I just found it." She said.

"My parents took us to see a jeweler, but he didn't know what it **was**!" Said Rose.

"Well, what are you planning to do with it?" Asked Marinette.

"I think I'm gonna keep it." Said Juleka.

"Like a good luck charm!" Rose added.

"Yeah. Like that." Juleka confirmed.

"But what if it belongs to someone?" Marinette added.

"Like who?" Asked Rose.

"Um… well…" Marinette tried to think of an answer but ended up stammering again. "It's just, that jewel looks like it _could_ belong to someone. I mean, with how it looks so perfectly cut. But there's no telling **who** it belongs to."

Marinette smiled awkwardly as she hoped they wouldn't find her suspicious, but after a while, she noticed that Juleka didn't seem to be looking at them. She turned around and saw that she was looking at someone sitting at the table she was previously sitting at.

"Staring at Shadow, _again_?" Rose asked.

Marinette froze in surprise for a second before turning around.

"NO!" Marinette and Juleka said in perfect unison.

"Why did you say that?" Juleka asked Marinette.

"Why did _you_?" Marinette asked Juleka.

Juleka looked away, blushing madly.

"Oh, she just has crush on Shadow." Said Rose.

"What?!" Marinette asked incredulously.

Juleka looked shocked but did not deny it. If anything, the mad blush on her face followed by her adverting gaze only aided in confirming Rose's claim.

"Well, he _**is**_ really cool and cute." Said Mylène in understanding before her eyes widened in realization. "Please don't tell Ivan I said that!"

Marinette _did_ notice some of the looks that Shadow was getting from some of the female students, but she didn't think much of it… that is, until now. That was when she got an idea. All that she had to do was… well, she wasn't really _lying_ , but she was certainly stretching the truth, as well as her promise to Shadow. So, Marinette took a deep breath and spoke.

"The gem belongs to Shadow."

The girls all looked at her in surprise.

While the girls continued talking, Shadow and the others were trying to pass the time by having Shadow tell them about his world. He told them about the landscapes that loop-da-looped for unknown reasons and about how the evil Doctor Eggman used mobini animals to power his badnik robots.

"Woah! Dude, I've heard of animal cruelty, but that guy takes it to a whole new level!" Said Nino.

"A terrible one." Said Alya.

It wasn't long until Marinette came back, but she wasn't alone, human wise, for Juleka was right beside her.

"Hello, everyone." She greeted them with a smile. "Shadow, my friend Juleka has something she'd like to tell you."

Shadow faced the girl withe the dark, long hair. She looked at him, blushed madly and then adverted her gaze. The whole time, she kept her hands behind her back.

"Shadow… I think… I have… something that belongs to you?"

Juleka looked at Marinette and then to Mylène and Rose behind them. All of them gave her reassuring smiles. She moved a single hand from behind her back to in front of her. What she was holding was red, glowed and gave off energy. There was no denying it. It was the red chaos emerald. Shadow's eyes widened as he held out his hand. He took it from her, his fingers gently brushing against her gloved hand. As he held the jewel of power, he looked up at the two girls before him and smiled.

"Thank you." He said to them, though it mostly was directed toward Marinette.

Marinette was giving him a smile and wink that read "I told you so", and she was right. Just as she said, she had somehow managed to convince Juleka to part with the jewel, so he wouldn't have to steal it.

"You're welcome." Juleka said as she reached behind her back to grip her arm while she still adverted her gaze.

Shadow placed the jewel into his bag, but he soon noticed that she didn't leave. He then noticed that the girl in pink, Rose, had appeared beside Juleka.

"Hey, guys!" She greeted her classmates. "I saw what happened, Shadow. You must be so grateful that Juleka went out of her way to give you her good luck charm. I think she deserves a reward, don't you?"

Everyone, aside from Juleka, looked at her with a curious expression.

"A reward?" He asked. "Well, yes, I guess so."

"Yeah. That gem is super important to you and Juleka was the one who found it and returned it to you. Maybe you could… I don't know, take her out somewhere nice as a way to say 'thank you'?"

Shadow looked at Juleka.

"Um, you don't have to if you don't want—"

"Alright." Shadow responded, interrupting Juleka.

"What?!" Juleka and Marinette responded in surprise.

Marinette's corresponding response got everyone's attention. When she noticed that they were looking at her, she tried to act as though nothing was wrong.

"Um, I was agreeing to the terms." Said Shadow.

"R-really?" Asked Juleka.

"Yes."

"Um, o-okay."

"Great! See you Friday, after school!" Said Rose as she led Juleka away.

Shadow just turned back around as if nothing had happened.

"Um, Shadow? You **do** realize that you just agreed to go out on a date with Juleka, right?" Asked Alya.

"Uh-huh." He said as he casually nodded.

"So, you're gonna do it?" Asked Nino.

"No." He said casually.

"What?!" Everyone questioned.

"With this emerald, I now only have to find one more and then I can go home. With Ladybug and Chat Noir's help, that shouldn't take too long. If all goes smoothly, I shouldn't have to worry about that date."

"Wait, so you're just gonna blow her off?!" Asked Adrien.

"I'm sure she'll be fine. And I'm sure I can think of some way to repay my debt to her."

"Oh, no! You are **not** gonna do that to one of our friends!" Declared Alya.

"She'll be **fine**."

"Wow, Shadow." Said Plagg, getting up in Shadow's face. "All that talk about repaying favors, and you won't even take a girl out to dinner for giving back something super important to you?"

Shadow saw it fit to scare him away with an intimidating snarl.

"You sound like a hypocrite, Shadow!" Said Tikki as she flew up beside Plagg.

"Hey! I'm just—!"

"No, Shadow! We all know you want to go home, but you can't just tell a girl that you're going to do something for her that'll make her really happy and then not do it." Marinette held her wrist and adverted her gaze as she spoke. "Juleka really likes you, Shadow. If you don't make good on your word, that can really crush her."

Shadow tried to think up a retort, but nothing came to mind.

" _(sigh)_ Even if I wanted to, I don't know this city as well as you do. You never gave me that tour, because you were busy measuring, writing, drawing and sewing. I'd have no idea where to take her."

"Then we'll take you on that tour of Paris as soon as school's over." Tikki declared. "We'll show you the best place to have dinner at a reasonable price."

"Well… I still don't have any money."

"We'll loan you some money." Said Adrien.

"W-well… I—" Shadow tried to think of another excuse for not going, but nothing sounded good enough.

"Shadow." Said Marinette. "Please? For me?"

"Please don't hurt her, Shadow." Said Tikki.

As Shadow looked at them, he felt his wall of restraint cracking, but the thing that truly made their looks unbearable was when Marinette's face flashed into Maria's. Shadow was afraid of this. He looked away, but it was too late, for his restraint was already broken.

"Alright! Alright! I'll do it! Just stop looking at me like that, Maria!"

"Huh?!" Everyone at the table, sans Marinette and Tikki, said in surprised response to Shadow's outburst.

Shadow, Tikki and Marinette's eyes widened.

"I-I mean ' **Marinette** '!" He stood there for a moment while all eyes were on him. "I've lost my appetite."

With that, he casually picked up his plate and walked away, everyone watching as he did so.

"What was **that** about?" Asked Alya.

"Uhm! Oh! Who knows?! You know how some people are. It's just hard to understand them sometimes. Take me for example!" Marinette rambled. "… I'm… going to go to class early. Come on, Tikki."

Marinette then took her own plate and left with Tikki hiding in her bag.

"She's hiding something." Said Alya.

"Really?" Asked Plagg.

"How do ya' know?" Asked Nino.

"Because she was rambling." Said Adrien.

"Whenever Marinette starts stammering or rambling," Alya explained, "it means she's either talking to or about a boy she likes or she's hiding something else."

Adrien couldn't help but think of all the times she did that in the past. He never admitted it out loud, but he always thought that she looked cute whenever she did this. Now that he knew the reason as too why she did that when they first became friends, he found it to be rather flattering and endearing. Unfortunately, now she was doing it again, only now, it was with Shadow.

He couldn't help but think of all the times he saw her stammering whenever Shadow was involved. He didn't say it out loud, but he didn't like how his girlfriend was spending so much time with some guy they had only just recently let into their peer group. Adrien was hoping that the reason for her rambling was the latter of the two stated by Alya.

* * *

After the school day had ended, Shadow walked out of the building to see Marinette and her friends waiting for him on the sidewalk. He waved to greet them, and they returned the greeting; however, Shadow couldn't help but notice Adrien's look. He looked… troubled.

"Adrien, is something wrong?" He asked the teen model.

"Huh? Oh, nah. I'm fine." Adrien responded with a smile.

"Are you sure?" Asked Marinette.

"Look at me, Princess." Adrien hooked his arm around her and placed his hand on her shoulder while he held his chin in his other and gave her a sly, sideways glancing smile. "Would I lie to you?"

" _(ahem)_ " Shadow cleared his throat to get their attention. "So, are they joining us or… what?"

"No." Alya said, disappointed. "I have get home. Still grounded. My excuse for why I was out late the other day didn't go over well with my parents."

"I'm not grounded, but I need to get home and work on this piece." Said Nino, moving his hands in a Deejay-like fashion as he said so.

"Well, I'm going." Said Adrien, taking his girlfriend's hand in a gentlemanly manner to kiss it before his kwami flew before his eyes.

"Didn't your dad say something about a photoshoot today?"

Adrien's surprised look turned into a mad glare after hearing his kwami say this.

"Really? I didn't know anything about a photoshoot." Marinette said curiously.

"Says the girl who always makes copies of all of Adrien's schedules." Said Alya.

Marinette shot her a look for her snide remark.

"W-well… The truth is I'm grounded, too." Said Adrien as he scratched his head. "My father is only letting out of the house for school, lessons and shoots. He set up this new one just yesterday. Since I'm already in trouble and this shoot was brought up so suddenly, I didn't think it would be a big deal. That's also the reason why I asked you to lunch, yesterday."

"What?!" Exclaimed Marinette. "But Adrien, if you dad finds out you skipped out on a photoshoot, he might forbid you from leaving the house! Then-you-can-never-come-to-school-and-see-me-or-our-friends-! He-might-even-think-that-since-you-were-out-with-me-, that-I'm-a-bad-influence-and-then-he'll-forbid-you-from-dating-me-! The-only-way-we'd-ever-see-each-other-would-be-as-Ladybug-and-Chat Noir-! But-even-then-, we-wouldn't-really-be-together-! We'd-be-working-together-! And…"

As she rambled on, Shadow walked up beside Adrien.

"She does this a lot, doesn't she?" He asked but the way he asked made it sound like he wasn't **really** asking.

"Yeah. It's so sweet how much she cares about our relationship." Said Adrien.

Shadow rolled his eyes at Adrien's response. Adrien walked up to Marinette and pulled her into an embrace to calm her. After a second, she finally calmed down and melted into the hug.

"I'm sorry for rambling." She said.

"Don't be. I love every single thing about you." He said as he looked her in the eyes. "From your beautiful smile _(chuckle)_ to your nervous fits."

As if the rest of the world didn't even exist, Marinette and Adrien's lips met as they shared a passionate kiss. Alya and Tikki found it adorable, while Plagg and Nino found the fact that they were doing this in public to be a little awkward. Shadow, on the other hand, found it to be extremely uncomfortable. He felt one of his eyebrows twitch as he clenched his fists and glared at one of them.

"You know; we really don't have time for this!" Said Shadow, interrupting the romantic moment, making Adrien feel extremely annoyed while only making Marinette embarrassed.

"Sorry. Guess we got carried away." Said Marinette.

She then directed her attention to her boyfriend. Marinette was going to suggest that they postpone the tour, but she had already done that the previous afternoon. Besides, Shadow agreed to take Juleka out on **Friday** , so they really didn't have any other options.

"Uhm… Adrien?"

"It's alright." He said before she could say anything else. "Go and show him the town. Just promise me you'll answer me when I call tonight, **and** that as soon as my grounding's over, you'll let me take you out to lunch."

She wrapped her arms back around him.

"I promise." She said before giving him a quick peck on the lips.

Shadow, once again, rolled his eyes at this.

"Can we go, now?" He asked impatiently.

"Oh, right!" Marinette withdrew her arms and walked over to Shadow.

With that, she walked away with Shadow at her side.

"Take care! I'll call you later tonight!" Adrien called.


	4. Chapter 4

I am terribly sorry that this came out so late. I was distracted and preoccupied.

* * *

I have never been to Paris. I don't know the sights or where everything is. I don't even know **what** is in Paris aside from what is mentioned in this series. Paris, France is number one on my list of places in the world I wish I could visit.

* * *

Marinette and Tikki led Shadow away from home so that they could show him around as much of Paris as possible. Marinette had already called her parents and told them that she would be home by dinner. The problem was that there was so much of the city to see and too little time to see it, especially on a school night. Right now, they were currently sitting at a table outside of a café (one that Marinette had recommended for Shadow to take Juleka to), reading the map of Paris in Shadow's atlas.

"We _could_ show him—"

"Or we could start with—"

"But what about—?"

"But what if we—?"

"Ooh! Good point. Maybe we could—"

Marinette and Tikki were going back and forth trying to figure out where to start. Since Shadow was new to… well, **Earth** , he didn't exactly have a list of places he wished to see, aside from the Eiffel Tower, but Marinette wanted to save that for last.

"Girls, we have very little time for this." Commented Shadow, impatiently.

"We're sorry, Shadow, but Paris is a big place." Said Tikki.

"Yeah. We just don't know where to start." Said Marinette.

"Do you have a euro?"

Marinette found this to be an odd question for Shadow to ask, but despite this, she reached into her bag and pulled out a shiny coin (Marinette previously told him about this world's currency… well, actually, only about euros). Shadow cleared the table, laid the map down on top of it and spread it out across the surface. He then took the coin, flipped it up into the air and let it fall onto the map. It hit the surface and settled on a spot.

"There. That's where we'll start."

Marinette and Tikki leaned in and eyed the marked location as Shadow got up out of his seat.

"But it's so far." Said Tikki.

Shadow took the map and closed the atlas after giving the coin back to Marinette.

"I know." Shadow started walking away.

Marinette, with Tikki hiding in her bag, soon followed after him, leaving some money to pay for the drinks that they ordered. She was nervous of the "how to get there" part of the plan.

"So… are we going to take a taxi or a bus?"

"No."

They rounded a corner and saw that there weren't that many people out. Marinette was afraid that her suspicions were correct.

"We're going to run, aren't we?"

Shadow was well aware that Marinette didn't exactly like taking the (as Sonic or Adrien would probably call it) "Shadow Express" (just the thought of calling it that made Shadow cringe).

"I know you don't like it, but teleporting would be like a game of roulette without knowing exactly where we're going, and we can't exactly leap from the rooftops and waste Tikki's energy."

"He has a point **there** , Marinette." Said Tikki.

" _(sigh)_ Alright."

Marinette walked up to Shadow, expecting him to scoop her up.

"Wait." Said Shadow.

Marinette looked at him in surprise. Shadow reached into his pocket and pulled out the yellow chaos emerald.

"We can't see **all** of Paris before dinner, but _this_ should help buy us more time so we at least see **enough** of it." He said, holding it up as he looked back at her and Tikki. "Hold on to me."

Marinette looked at him in shock to his request.

"Just trust me."

Marinette hesitantly got closer to him and held on to his arm while Tikki did the same. Shadow then threw the emerald up into the air.

"Chaos…"

The emerald glowed brightly before it started to fall and Shadow caught it with ease.

"Control!"

The yellow light blinded the girl and little kwami. When the light faded, Marinette and Tikki looked around and saw that the few people, along with some pigeons, who were around had suddenly stopped moving.

"Huh?!" Exclaimed Marinette.

"What happened?!" Tikki asked worriedly.

"Don't worry. I just used **this** to temporarily stop time." Shadow held up the glowing yellow gem.

"Wow!" The girls said in unison.

"We didn't have much time before, but with **this** and my speed, we have all the time in the world. Granted, the effects of a time freeze are only temporary, but so long as I keep drawing power from the emeralds in my backpack, I should be able to maintain it for a bit longer."

Shadow stashed the gem in his pocket and while Marinette was distracted with the idea that the entire world was on pause, Shadow caught her off guard when he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her in so that he could carry her bridle style.

"Do we still have to run?" She asked nervously.

"Don't worry." He said with a reassuring smile. "We'll go slow."

Marinette gave a small, nervous smiled in response to _his_ smile and wrapped her arms around his shoulders for good measure. Tikki flew out and sat down on Marinette's stomach.

"Feel free to tell me to stop at any places that I should know about. _Hmph_ … Alright… Here we…" Shadow got into a starting position. "Go!"

Shadow took off, not like a speeding bullet, but more like a speeding motorcycle. Marinette soon realized that the wind in her face wasn't as strong as the previous times she held onto Shadow while he ran. It almost reminded her of when she would use her yoyo as a mode of transportation, only smoother and less like a carnival ride. As they ran toward their destination, Marinette often stopped Shadow to show him someplace and tell him about it. When they reached their destination, Shadow took out the map. Eventually, the chaos emeralds' magic **did** stop along the way, but with all of the time they were saving while it was in effect, it wasn't so much a big deal. So they just kept walking around with time moving normally (use your imagination to decide how their evening went). Soon enough, Adrien _did_ call. Shadow made a comment that they still had limited time; however, that didn't end the call… the long call that seemed to last forever (at least in _Shadow's_ mind).

Later, the three of them agreed to go through Paris almost like a spiral, with the Eiffel Tower being their last stop. Every so often, they would use the emeralds to once again stop time so that they wouldn't waste too much of it (time, that is). Marinette and Tikki showed him the Notre-Dame, the Champs-Élysées, the Arc de Triomphe, even the Pont des Arts. They eventually stopped by the Louvre where the girls showed him some of the most famous art pieces in the world, especially including the Mona Lisa.

Although through most of the tour, Shadow's expression remained neutral, Marinette could somehow tell that he was enjoying himself (if anything, a little bit). In less than two hours, they found themselves standing on the Eiffel Tower's second story lookout. It wasn't yet dinner time, but it was drawing close, but at this moment, they were just enjoying the view.

"So, how did you enjoy the tour?" Asked Marinette.

"This city is… primitive." Said Shadow.

Marinette's eyes widened at his statement. He glanced at her and realized what he just said.

"B-but the architecture is **beautiful**!" He quickly corrected himself.

Marinette was back to smiling.

" _(sigh)_ I didn't think we would cover this much of Paris in just **two** hours!" She said.

As they looked out at Paris, they could see the sun setting over the horizon. With this, some of the lights of the city came to life.

"You know; I sometimes wonder how someone as unlucky as me could also be lucky enough to be born and raised in such a beautiful city." As she said this while looking out at the City of Lights, Shadow glanced at her and for some odd reason, he felt no desire to look away. "Can you imagine anything more beautiful than this view?"

"… No."

As he kept staring, she turned to look at him… and her face flashed into Maria's. That alone snapped him back to his senses.

"Uh!"

"What's wrong?!" She asked him with concern.

"Um… nothing." He said while shaking his head.

She didn't look convinced.

"Shadow, why do you do that? Whenever you look at me for a long time, you suddenly look like you've seen a ghost." She approached him. "What's wrong, Shadow?"

Shadow tried to not look at her by looking out at the city.

"Shadow, please tell me." She pleaded.

Shadow chanced another glance, but soon came to regret it when he saw her face flash again. He shut his eyes, looked away and kept saying the word "no" in his own mind.

"Y-you… rem-mind me… of… someone… Someone I knew…"

"Of who? Who do I remind you of?"

Shadow didn't want to, but he feared if he didn't, she would keep pressing the matter and make things harder. So, with a sigh of defeat, he kept his eyes off of her as he reached into his pocket. Marinette's eyes widened as he held out his treasured photograph. Shadow never forgot to take it with him everywhere he went. She looked at it and saw the picture of the old man sitting beside a young girl, but noticed that Shadow's thumb was covering the girl's face. She slowly reached with her hand and gripped the photo. She slowly eased the picture out of Shadow's hand and every time she did, more of the girl's face was revealed. When she could finally see the whole image, her eyes widened, for this was the first time she had actually gotten a good look at the entire picture. She could see every detail of it… including Maria's face.

"B-but… she looks just like…"

As Marinette stared at the blonde haired girl, Tikki, curiosity getting the better of her, flew in front of her and saw Maria's face, as well.

"Marinette, she looks just like **you** , only younger with blonde hair!"

"Shadow, who are they?" She asked.

"They are…" Shadow corrected his mistake as soon as he heard himself. "They **were** … my family… My creator, Prof. Gerald Robotnik, and his granddaughter… Maria Robotnik… In a way, she was like… my sister… They were the closest thing I ever had to family."

"… What happened to them?"

Shadow hesitated before speaking.

"The raid." Shadow felt no resistance to share this story with her, for every time he turned to look at her, he saw only Maria, which would only force him to look away. "Fifty years ago, onboard a space station called The Space Colony ARK, there lived an old man who dedicated his life to science. His main goal was to cure the incurable disease known only as NIDS, Neuro-Immune-Deficiency-Syndrome. It's a disease that affects the body's immune system, making it almost impossible to combat illness. One of the unfortunate people who was diagnosed with this disease was his own granddaughter, Maria. Because of her condition, she had no choice but to live on the ARK to protect herself from Mobius' bacteria ridden atmosphere. The common cold alone would be fatal for her. The Professor didn't want this to be her life. This encouraged him to find a cure. But that proved to be impossible.

"He soon came to the conclusion that if he couldn't **find** a cure, he would **make** one, himself. But at the same time, the government funding his research wanted him to create a super weapon to aid them in the war that was going on between the Humans and the Mobians. When… an opportunity… presented itself, the Professor decided to use it to… kill two birds with one stone. After a lot of trial-and-error, he eventually… _(sigh)_ succeeded. He made the ultimate cure. He made the ultimate weapon… He made **me** , the Ultimate Lifeform; Codenamed: Project Shadow. But this wasn't the life my creator wanted for me.

"When I was created, the Professor made it my soul purpose to protect his granddaughter. So no matter what, I would never leave her side… _(ahem)_ of course, there were _(cough)_ a few exceptions. I was adamant to make sure no harm ever befell her. For some reason, she decided to make me her… friend. To this day, I still have no idea how she did it, but… she became _my_ friend, as well… and then… eventually, we became something… more… we became family. I didn't just protect her because my creator tasked me to, anymore. I protected her because I **wanted** to keep her safe from harm.

"Since I wasn't technically 'born', I didn't think I **had** a soul… but Maria somehow got it into her head that… I **might** have one… Both she and the Professor were so sure because… being with them made me… happy… But this happiness was short-lived. When the government found out about me and what I was capable of, they feared that the fact that I was alive would make me… uncontrollable. And so… **because** they were afraid of me… they raided the ARK… and eliminated anyone… and **everyone** associated with my creation. The Professor told me to take Maria and escape the ARK… but the soldiers caught up to us… I was fully prepared to lay down my life to protect Maria… but she… laid down _**hers**_ … for **me**!" Shadow's fingers were starting to bend the metal bars that kept people from falling. "She jettisoned me from the ARK… and that was the last I ever saw… of either of them…"

Shadow's story brought Marinette and Tikki to tears. He didn't have to turn around to know this, because he could hear their sobs. Normally, someone crying at the top of the Eiffel Tower would draw attention, but fortunately, most of the people were on the other side of the lookout while everyone else went home for the day.

"Fifty years later, I thought I had finally put my past behind me… then, all of a sudden, I'm sent **here** , only to meet **you**. Some… random stranger who only **resembles** someone I once loved. Most times when I look at you, I see only a girl… but then… when you look at me… certain ways… I can only see… **her** face… It's almost as if… you turn **into** her… I… I don't know why, but… you look… so much like her." He glanced at her, and with the look on her face, her face flashed, forcing Shadow to look away. "Please, don't look at me like that!"

Marinette didn't know what to say. Her new friend saw her as someone she wasn't because of how she looked.

"I-I… I don't know what to say." Marinette turned to look at the city below.

More of the city's lights came on.

"I should go." Shadow said.

"What?!"

"You can get home from here on your own."

Shadow started making his way to the stairs.

"But, Shadow!" Shadow ignored her and kept walking, so she ran to him and grabbed his arm. "Shadow, you can't just walk away."

"Let me go, Marinette."

"No, I'm not just going to let you leave."

"I've been down this road before. I refuse to go back."

"Shadow, I can't help you with getting home if you can't even **look** at me."

"It only happens **sometimes**. It'll pass!"

"But what if it doesn't?!"

"Just let me go!"

"Just let _me_ help!"

"You can't!"

"You don't know that!"

"Let me **go** , Maria!"

At first, Marinette and Shadow froze, but Marinette's freeze wore off before Shadow's.

" **Please**." He said to her. "Just let me go."

Marinette wasn't about to let go of a friend. So, she took a deep breath and did something she hoped would work.

"Shadow… help me."

Shadow's eyes shot open when he heard this. He slowly turned around. At first, he only saw Marinette's raven hair (her face was looking downward), but then, she looked up at him with an expression that was a mixture of sadness and worry.

"Help me… help _you_." Her face flashed into Maria's.

"Gah!"

Shadow tried to look away, but Marinette took this opportunity. She grabbed his face and focused it on hers.

"Shadow, look at me."

Her expression remained the same, so her face flashed into Maria's again.

"No! No! NO!" Shadow exclaimed, backing into a wall.

He shut his eyes, but Tikki, though mostly unsure of this idea, decided to help Marinette by forcing Shadow's eyes open. Every time he jerked his head to the side, Marinette would move hers. If he jerked his head up, Tikki would help Marinette force it down low enough to see her. He kept saying "NO". With his mind forced to think about Maria, he couldn't focus on any way to get out of his situation.

"Stop it! STOP IT!"

"SHADOW! LOOK AT ME! I AM NOT MARIA!" She yelled at him.

Shadow kept trying to look away, but then, her grip on his face softened until she was only gently holding it. As she started to gently caress his cheek, Shadow barely saw her and tried to look away.

"Shadow, you have to look at me. I know it's scary, but you have to." She said in a calm, soothing voice. "Please, Shadow. Help me… help _you_."

Shadow started to slowly focus on her. Even with her smiling, Maria's face appeared before Shadow and remained. As he looked at her, the setting around them changed. Shadow was no longer in human form standing on the look out point of the Eiffel Tower with Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Tikki the kwami, he was in hedgehog form, standing in front of an escape pod on the Space Colony ARK with Maria Robotnik on her knees after just being shot, holding onto him.

"Please… I feel like I'm back on the ARK… during the raid… I don't want to go back there."

"You don't have to, but you have to accept that this face before you isn't Maria's."

"My life… I'm starting to think about it… The raid… It's…"

"Over. You have to look at me and talk to me like I'm not the person you once knew."

Shadow looked at Maria, looking deep into her blue eyes.

"Y-you… you aren't Maria."

"Good."

"Maria is gone. You are not her."

"Who am I?"

"Y-you are… not Maria Robotnik. Y-you are… M-Ma-Mari… Mari… Marinette…"

"Yes."

"You are Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

"Yes."

"Maria is gone, but… Marinette, you are here."

"Yes"

Shadow stared directly at Maria's face as their life as a family together replayed in her eyes. Shadow forced himself to watch. He felt all of his emotions from those times; the anger, the pain, the sadness, the fear, the happiness… the love. He kept telling himself that it was only his past. Nothing but memories. He loved and missed Maria, his dear sister, and his beloved father, Gerald. He missed them both dearly. This girl before his eyes was not Maria. As he looked at her, he was starting to mentally and emotionally accept that. His eyes were suddenly as free as his head, but he did not look away. Before his eyes, he saw Maria's hair shorten and turn dark as her body matured. Her blue dress also transformed and she was no longer on her knees for her legs had grown longer. The ARK faded away from around him until he found himself in the lookout of the Eiffel Tower looking into the face of a beautiful human, Parisian girl. Shadow felt calm and content as he breathed and sighed.

"Marinette. Thank you."

"Of course. We're friends, Shadow."

Marinette surprised Shadow by wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his shoulder. Tikki then drifted down and used her tiny tendrils (or more like rested her entire body) to hug the top of his head. Shadow thought that this was weird but decided not to shake her off. He just started patting Marinette's back, but after a moment, he did something that he could not explain. He used his peripheral vision to see Marinette's face and smiled (which as we all know, was rare... but less so, as it would seem, when he's around Marinette). Then, all of a sudden, as he felt Marinette's warm form hold onto him, he began to subconsciously wrap his arms around—

 _ **FWOOSH**_

 _ **KA-BOOM**_

Marinette and Shadow stopped and ran to the other side of the lookout to see several buildings and cars on fire.

"What just happened?!" Asked Tikki before noticing the people beside her friends and quickly moving to hide in Marinette's bag.

"Down there!" Said Shadow, pointing, so the girls followed his finger and saw flames shooting from a single moving point. "Another akuma attack?!"

"But it's so **late**." Said Marinette.

"Guess it's true what they say, 'evil never sleeps'." Said Tikki.

"Let's go." Said Shadow.

Shadow and Marinette, with Tikki in her bag, ran to the other side of the lookout. Shadow then pulled off his backpack and unzipped it.

"Let's not wait for your boyfriend. We have to take this guy down fast."

"Wait." Marinette got his attention after he pulled out his hoodie and fingerless, leather gloves.

Shadow looked at Marinette in surprise and saw her removing her own backpack. She unzipped it and pulled out something rectangular and wrapped. She then held it out toward Shadow.

"What's this?" Shadow asked.

"I made this for you."

Shadow took the package, but before he could open it, a new explosion caught their attention.

"Thanks, I'll look at it later." Shadow stashed the gift inside of his backpack and zipped it back up.

"Oh, okay."

Shadow then put his jacket on, zipped it up, pulled up his hood and stood back for Marinette to get changed.

"Tikki, Spots On! Ha!"

Marinette held up the hair covering her left ear, revealing her black earrings turning red, and almost immediately, Tikki was absorbed into them, causing black spots to appear. Marinette ran her hands across her eyes causing sparkles followed by a red mask with five black spots to appear upon her face. Sparkles then began to cover her body, replacing her usual daily wear with her superhero suit, her magic yoyo appearing around her waist. She had transformed into the miraculous Ladybug.

With the both of them suited up, Shadow strapped his backpack on and used chaos control to teleport them outside the lookout landing. Using Ladybug's yoyo and Shadow's chaos control, they made it to the villain. While Ladybug landed using her yoyo to aid her in a soft, graceful landing, Shadow just stopped teleporting when he was about ten feet from the ground and let gravity bring him down so that he could break his fall (and some of the concrete) with his fist (superhero landing).

Now that they were close enough, they could clearly see who they were up against. He wore a white, fire-proof coat with red fire designs on the bottom rim and around the cuffs of his sleeves. His boots and gloves were red with **white** fire designs (no pun intended). His face was red with the area around his eyes being white and flame shaped. He wore a firefighter's helmet that matched his boot's and gloves and he had a large backpack strapped to his back with a hose attached to it which he held in his hands.

"Isn't it past your bedtimes, kids?" The supervillain commented.

"We could be asking you the same thing." Ladybug retorted.

"Who **are** you?!" Asked Shadow.

"You may call me **Fire-Man**. All that I ever wanted was to keep people safe from fires, but if they refuse to respect me for my efforts, then instead of _**preventing**_ fires, from now on, I'll be **starting** them!"

"Not if _we_ have anything to say about it!" Exclaimed Ladybug.

Fire-Man gave them a confident grin until he realized something and started looking around. Ladybug and Shadow thought that this was odd. Shadow looked at Ladybug curiously, but she just shrugged. When Fire-Man didn't seem to find what he was looking for, he turned to the heroes.

"Wait a minute! Who are _you_?!" He asked the hoodie clad hero. "Where's Chat Noir?!"

"Never mind that!" Shadow responded. "Just make this easier on yourself! Surrender **now** and spare yourself a beating!"

"Ha! The only way I'll ever stop is if Ladybug and Chat Noir hand over their miraculouses!"

"Not happening! Your best bet is to give up while you still can!"

"I advise that you listen to my friend, Dark Chaos, here. He's nothing like my partner, Chat Noir."

"Is that so? Well then, I guess I'll just have to take him out first and then take _your_ miraculous before I can take Chat Noir's." Fire-Man held up his hose and by twisting the nozzle, flames shot forth from it.

"Evasive maneuvers!" Shadow exclaimed before he and Ladybug got out of the way via yoyo and teleportation.

Once they were a safe enough distance away, Ladybug observed Fire-Man as he shot forth his flames.

"I think the akuma's in his hose." She said.

"Then let's take care of it as quickly as—Look out!"

Shadow grabbed Ladybug and teleported her a safe distance away when he saw that Fire-Man's hose was pointed at them and its flames were heading straight for them. He teleported the two of them to the roof where they saw that Fire-Man was shooting fire at everything.

"You can't take him on one-on-one. This villain seems to prefer to battle at long range." Said Shadow.

"You're right. All he has to do is point that hose of his and we'll get burned." Not long after saying this, she started giggling.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just that by now, Chat Noir would probably come up with some kind of pun about 'us getting **burned** ' or 'our goose being **cooked** '."

Shadow rolled his eyes from under the shade of his hood.

"One of us has to distract him while the other takes his hose."

"Alright. Dark Chaos," Shadow wanted to mention that she didn't have to call him that in private, but decided not to, preferring to instead focus on the mission, "you teleport behind him and distract him. _I'll_ handle the rest. Do you think you can handle it?"

" _Tch_ … Don't forget, I'm the Ultimate."

Shadow then threw himself back over the side and landed on the ground, hard. The sound of impact was enough to alert Fire-Man.

"Back for more?"

" _Hmph_ , I'm back to finish you." Shadow punctuated what he said by punching his palm as he started his approach.

" _Do not underestimate this opponent!_ " Said the dark voice in Fire-Man's head.

"Hah! That's as far as _you'll_ be going!" He said as he pointed his hose and shot out his flames at Shadow.

Shadow was unfazed by the suddenness of the attack. Just when the heat of the flames was actually starting to burn him, before they could actually **touch** him, he vanished in a flash of green light. At first, Fire-Man believed that he had scared him off and smiled at himself.

" _(ahem)_ " The sound of someone behind him clearing their throat caught him by surprise.

Fire-Man turned around while jumping away from Shadow. Suddenly, Shadow smirked at him as his hand turned green. He decided to toy with Fire-Man a bit while waiting for Ladybug to get into position. He knew he could finish him with his speed or a few chaos spears, but this fool was so easy, he knew that there was no need.

"Chaos spear." Using chaos energy, he created a spear and threw it before making and throwing another. "Chaos spear."

Shadow kept this up, constantly keeping Fire-Man "dancing" all over the place. Shadow smirked at the supervillain's humiliation.

" _He's making you look_ _ **stupid**_ _! Use the power I_ _ **gave**_ _you!_ " The dark voice shouted.

" _Grrr_ … That's it!" He said before dodging another hit. "No more mister- **nice** -villain!"

With a twist of his nozzle, he shot flames at Shadow.

"Chaos barrier!" By swinging and crossing his arms in front of him, a glowing green barrier sprouted up around him, protecting him from the fire. " _Hmph_. Please. You're no villain! You're a joke!"

Shadow's taunting irked Fire-Man, so he decided to turn up the heat by twisting his nozzle again. This made even **more** flames shoot out. While this was happening, Ladybug was prepping her yoyo while enjoying the show.

"You know what, with your only means of defense being that **one** hose, you can really only protect yourself from **one** opponent at a time! But if your hose is busy with **one** of us who can **defend** against your attacks, then the other can come in and take you out! **Now** , Ladybug!"

Fire-Man's eyes widened as he turned his head to see the superheroine throw her trusty magic yoyo at the reverse-firefighter-themed supervillain, intending to tie him up and then Have Shadow keep him restrained while she removed the backpack and then let Shadow destroy it. He seemed smart enough and resilient enough to know how to safely destroy something like that. And if Fire-Man were to redirect his shot at her, then Dark Chaos could run up behind him while his back was turned. The heroes were sure of their victory, but then Fire-Man reached behind him as quickly as he could, pulled out a fire extinguisher and pointed it at Ladybug. When he turned the fire extinguisher on, instead of shooting out fire **-retardant** , it shot out **fire**. The flames were strong enough to blow the yoyo away but keep on going.

Ladybug and Shadow's eyes widened, for they both saw where this was going. As Shadow saw Ladybug's… saw **Marinette's** arm outstretched from throwing her yoyo, _and_ saw her face instantly switch from confident to surprised and then to frightened, he also saw her face flash into Maria's again, only it wasn't **just** her face that changed, it was **everything**. And she didn't **just** change into Maria, the setting **around** her changed, as well. The very **situation** , in fact, changed. In an instant, **for** an instant, instead of Marinette throwing a yoyo as she's about to take a face full of fire, the scene changed into **Maria** throwing **Shadow** out of the way as the **G.U.N. soldiers** were about to open fire.

" _Not again_." He thought to himself as he saw the flames get closer to her and swung his arms out. " _Not again!_ "

"Chaos…!"

" _ **Not**_ _again!_ " He thought as he became engulfed in green light at the same time as the barrier dissipated.

"… Control!"

" _ **Not again**_ _!_ " He mentally shouted as he vanished in a flash of green light, just before the hose flames could touch him, but he still got a little bit burned.

" _ **Not! again!**_ " He mentally shouted as he reappeared in a flash of green light in front of her, facing the flames.

"CHAOS BARRIER!"

" _ **NEVER AGAIN!**_ " He mentally screamed out as he threw his arms into an "X" shape in front of him, causing a barrier of green light to form around them

Shadow would "never again" lose someone he cared about. Even if it cost him his own life, he wouldn't only give everything he had to save the world, he would also give everything to save one person ( _with_ the world if possible) if that person was someone whom he cared deeply for. Someone like Maria… Someone like… Marinette. The barrier was almost complete, but before it actually **was** , the flames hit. The barrier shielded every last part of them… except for Shadow's torso and face.

" _ **GeeyAAAAAAAHHH!**_ " He screamed as the barrier finished forming, but at the same time, everything on him from the waist up was suddenly ignited on fire.

"NOOOOO!" Ladybug screamed when she saw this.

Shadow struggled to keep the barrier up as his torso, arms and head burned, but it was faltering. Ladybug then grabbed him, despite the fire, and threw her weight into the barrier (she couldn't use her yoyo because she dropped it when Shadow summoned his chaos barrier). With him trying to stay conscious after being set on fire _and_ holding the barrier that kept Fire-Man's flames out, Shadow couldn't handle someone actually **bashing** against it from the inside.

The barrier fell and Ladybug jumped for her yoyo with Shadow in tow. The flames from the supervillain barely got her foot, but still she managed to reach her yoyo. Shadow was slightly heavier than Chat Noir, not to mention he was on fire, but with her enhanced strength, sheer determination to help her friend and her yoyo, she was able to carry them both to safety with only a few burns on her. Ladybug carried them behind the building where she immediately pulled Shadow's backpack off as quickly as she could and proceeded to rip off his hoodie and throw it away, quickly followed by his gloves, letting the jacket burn into ashes while the backpack and leather flames simply died out. She then started patting out the flames on his red shirt while _he_ tended to his face. When she was finished, she saw just how badly damaged he was. The flesh of his arms and the palms of his hands were burned red and his fingers and face were… well, **worse** (they had no protection). Seeing him in this state brought her to tears.

"I… I'm sorry!" She sobbed.

She tried to help him, but couldn't out of fear that she may hurt him. She didn't know what to do other than… Shadow saw that she was about to use her Lucky Charm, but stopped her before she could by throwing himself up and grabbing ahold of her arm, bringing it down as he fell to his knee.

"Don't…!" Shadow struggled to say despite his burnt state. "We'll need that… for Fire-Man."

Ladybug dropped to her knees so that she was level with him. She couldn't look at him.

"This was all my fault."

"No, it wasn't… Neither of us… saw that… second weapon. We were **both** caught by… surprise." It wasn't long until Shadow noticed her sobbing again. "Don't cry, Marinette."

She looked at him as he said this, or at least, she tried to. Shadow was currently looking at the floor in a way that his hair was blocking the view from the rest of his face.

"Remember, you are a hero… These people depend on you. They look **up** to you… Don't show them you're afraid…"

"Shadow… _(sob)_ you need help."

"I'm… fine."

" **Stop** that…! Stop saying that…! _(sob) (sob)_ You are **not** fine." Shadow stayed there for a second, listening to her sob. "Just let me help you… _(sniff)_ please."

"You can help me… by helping _me_ … help you. Don't focus on the… unfortunate outcomes. Focus on making all the other outcomes… **fortunate**. We have to focus on stopping that fire-clown." It was at this moment that Shadow raised his head and revealed that his smirking face was already healing at an alarming pace. "Besides, I've been in **much** more dangerous spots than this."

Ladybug… Marinette was overjoyed to see him healing. So much so, that she couldn't help throwing her arms around Shadow.

" _Gah_!" He exclaimed, scaring her off of him. "It's alright! I've just never been in that situation _without_ almost-fire-proof fur, before. **Especially** , not while wearing something as flammable as that jacket. _Heh_. Guess that explains why it was in the **clearance** bin."

Despite still recovering from being in that situation, Marinette giggled at what he just said.

"Did… _you_ just make a joke?"

"Of course not. I don't make jokes. Only observations."

" _(giggle)_ Well then, it's a good thing I make my clothes out of fire-retardant material."

" _Hm_. Yeah."

Another explosion came to their ears and reminded them of what was happening.

"Oh, Ladybug!" Called Fire-Man. "Dark **Crybaby**! Where **are** you?!"

Shadow subconsciously growled at him through gritted teeth.

"I'm done toying with this fool." Shadow said darkly.

Ladybug eyed him closely, but saw that his eye and facial skin color remained the same. She smiled at him. When Shadow looked at her, he remembered something.

"Ladybug, use your Lucky Charm now to create something to cut his hose. Then you can use Miraculous Ladybug to repair the damage he caused…" he then turned back toward the villain, "… **after** we take him down."

"But Shadow, your disguise." Said Ladybug.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"Wait!" Shadow looked at her curiously.

Ladybug then smiled and reached into his almost singed backpack. She then pulled out the gift that she had made for him and held it out towards him. He gave her a curious, while at the same time, unamused look.

" **Ladybug** ," he said, trying to emphasis that they were on the clock, "this is **hardly** the time for—"

" **Please**. Just open it." She urged him.

Shadow sighed and took the gift. He then proceeded to open it quickly, but when he finally saw part of what was inside, he stopped.

"When you showed me that picture of you… well, it… **you** inspired me." She said as he continued to unwrap the gift.

Once all of the wrapping paper was on the ground, he held up what was inside of it and stared at it in awe. He was speechless. Seeing the look on his face made all of her hard work worth it. She then got up and walked out of their hiding place.

"Come out as soon you're ready."

With that, she left the hiding place to continue the battle. Once the villain was in view once again, but could still not see her, Ladybug pulled out her yoyo and threw it up into the air.

"Lucky Charm!"

Sparkles then started to gather together around her yoyo. Banding together, they formed a red object with black spots that then landed into her hands.  
It was a metal boomerang with a sharpened edge. She looked around, but couldn't figure out what to do with it.

"Guess I'll just have figure it out later." She said before using her yoyo again.

As soon as she came into view, standing atop a streetlight, Fire-Man saw her.

"Aha! There you are!" He called out to her. "Where's your little friend?! Still licking his burns?!"

"He's fine, thank you for asking!"

" _Hah_! _He_ may be fine for _now_ , but _you_ won't be!"

Using his hose, he shot more flames at Ladybug. Using her yoyo, she started swinging high up, trying to stay out of the way of the onslaught while looking around for some way to use her boomerang.

"It's too bad you're stuck facing me all on your own!" Fire-Man said, as he reached behind him and pulled out his fire extinguisher.

He then shot out more flames, cutting her off, forcing her to stop moving and land. The flames from the hose _and_ the fire extinguisher cut her off from both sides and only got closer.

"No one to save you now. Not even your favorite cat! I bet that really **burns** you up!"

"Hey!" Came a voice from Fire-Man's side.

He turned just in time to receive a clean hit in the jaw from a white gloved hand that left him tumbling away. Fire-Man got to his feet and saw who was in front of him.

" **Who** are _**you**_?!" He asked.

"Don't remember me?" The hero said. "Thanks for that burn earlier, by the way. I'll be sure to pay you back for that."

" **You**!"

The hero before the villain was dressed in black pants with red stripes going half-way up the legs, white gloves (with fingers) and a new black hoodie with red stripes going up the arms and a white design on the chest (resembling Shadow the Hedgehog's chest fur). Then there was the head area. The hood of the hoodie was adorned with red striped, black spikes protruding from the back and animal ears on top. There was also a single red stripe going up from the middle of the front of the hood. On the back of the jacket, there was a red symbol that resembled swirls with spikes (Shadow's logo). And finally, on his face (from under his hood), surrounding his red eyes, was a black mask with red stripes above the eyes.

"Miss me?" Shadow said with a smirk.

Instead of answering, Fire-Man unleashed the flames of his hose upon him. Shadow, instead of summoning his barrier or teleporting, dashed around the flame and delivered a punch right into Fire-Man's diaphragm. The punch lifted him up off of the ground. Shadow then jumped up and spun sideways so that he could kick him into the ground.

"Dark Chaos, be careful with him." Ladybug warned.

"I know. I was just paying him back for last time." Said Shadow.

" _Get up! Get up!_ " Demanded the dark voice.

"I'll finish this myself." Shadow approached the weakened villain.

After finally getting to his knees, Fire-Man desperately reached for his hose and held it out, but he was so fear stricken, he didn't know what to do, but Ladybug did, for now, she saw the fire extinguisher (which was lying on the ground, a short distance away) and hose. With her targets in sight, she threw her boomerang. It flew toward the fire extinguisher and hit the operating lever, denting it into place, permanently. After that, the boomerang flew through the air and came back around. Just when Fire-Man was about twist the nozzle, something whizzed past and cut the hose. The boomerang then returned to the one who threw it.

"NO!" He yelled as the hose started shooting fire all over the place.

Shadow back flipped out of the way while Fire-Man tried get his hose under control. It was at that moment that he noticed something, the flames were spreading even more thanks to the constant feed from the permanently opened hose. They soon reached another car. The vehicle exploded and was thrown into the sidewalk. Shadow saw a little girl and her parents hurry into a building just in time for the car to come crashing down in front of the door of the building that they were hiding in. The car was still on fire and more flames were on the way. They were trapped and needed help.

"Ladybug!" He called to the superheroine.

"I know! I was wrong! The akuma wasn't in—!"

"Those people!" Shadow pointed to the trapped family.

When Ladybug finally saw what he was talking about, she threw her yoyo to try and help, but it was blown away by the nonstop, erupting flames from Fire-Man's cut hose. Fire-Man was running straight for her, hose literally blazing.

"I can't get close! Dark Chaos, hurry!" She called as she tried to avoid the flames.

Shadow looked at the car in front of the door as the flames made their way to it and dashed toward it.

"Chaos control!" Using his chaos powers, Shadow teleported to the building where, through a window he saw that everyone inside was scared. "Don't worry! You're going to be okay!"

Shadow grabbed ahold of the car and lifted in above his head. The flames got closer, so Shadow didn't waste any more time. He threw the car into the flames and broke the door off, releasing the family.

"Get as far away from here as fast as you can, now!" He ordered them before turning to leave.

"Wait!" Called the mother, causing Shadow to freeze in his tracks. "You aren't Chat Noir. Who are you?"

The dark hero simply turned around and faced them with a dark look.

"Call me **Dark Chaos**."

With that, he took off like a black wind toward the danger while the family ran away. Once he was close enough, he saw that Ladybug was having a hard time with the villain, so he ran faster. Unfortunately, if he were to run **into** him at top speed, then he would cause Fire-Man serious harm, which Ladybug wouldn't approve of. And if he were to destroy his backpack, it would cause it to explode. There was no telling how much **bodily** damage Ladybug's Miraculous Ladybug could fix. Same thing for his usual chaos attacks. They were made with an intention to severely harm or even destroy. This was an innocent human-being who was being used for evil.

Dark Chaos then saw the straps that kept Fire-Man's backpack attached to him. If he were to separate his backpack from Fire-Man, then he would be both defenseless _and_ out of harm's way. Dark Chaos jumped up and front flipped over Fire-Man, grabbing the top of his backpack with one hand while doing so. With his other, he summoned a chaos spear and cut the straps as he was passing overhead. He then pulled the backpack off and threw it into the air upon landing.

"Chaos spear!" He shouted as he shot it with a spear of chaos energy.

 _ **KA-BOOM**_

The pack exploded a safe distance away.

" _Few_!" Ladybug said after landing, but before she could celebrate, she saw Fire-Man pull out an axe and approach Dark Chaos from behind. "Look out!"

The supervillain swung, but Dark Chaos simply swerved out of the way, pivoted around, grabbed him by the weapon and then kick him in the chest just causing him to release it. As he was being knocked back, Dark Chaos noticed his helmet fly off, so he grabbed it before it hit the ground. As he held it in his hand, he felt the dark power inside of it. It was in his helmet the whole time. Dark Chaos tossed the helmet up and as it dropped down, swung at it with Fire-Man's axe, shattering it into pieces. Once the pieces hit the ground, Ladybug and Dark Chaos saw the akuma emerge and fly away.

"You found it!" She exclaimed.

"Hurry, don't let it get away!" He warned her.

Ladybug took out her yoyo and ran a finger down the middle of it.

"No more evil-doing for you, little akuma."

The yoyo then opened up, revealing a bright white light from inside it. She started swinging the yoyo back and forth, building up momentum, but then started spinning it around and around, posing while getting ready to release it.

"Time to de-evilize!"

She threw out her yoyo toward the akuma, which became trapped inside before it closed once again. The yoyo soon returned to Ladybug, who caught it with ease.

"Gotcha!"

Ladybug then tapped the top of her yoyo and it opened up once again, releasing a white winged butterfly from it.

"Bye-bye, little butterfly."

Ladybug smiled, then took the red boomerang with black spots and tossed it into the air.

"Miraculous Ladybug!"

The boomerang then disappeared in the sky, and in its place, a very large loveliness of sparkling ladybugs appeared and spread out in random directions. All of a sudden, all of the damage was repaired, the flames were extinguished, Shadow's clothes were fixed and Fire-Man transformed back into a normal looking fireman. He looked around, confused as to what had just happened. Dark Chaos couldn't help but feel proud about this job well done. He turned around, but was surprised by what he saw when he did so.

"Pound it!" He saw Ladybug, extending her fist toward him.

"Um, excuse me?" He asked her, confused.

"Uh… oh!" She said, withdrawing her hand as she realized her mistake. "Um, sorry about that! Me and Chat Noir always fist bump after we complete a mission."

Shadow thought that this was odd and pointless, but for some reason, he felt… curious.

"Go ahead." He said with an eye roll.

Ladybug opened her eyes when she heard this and was surprised to see Dark Chaos holding out his gloved fist up, pointed toward her. It wasn't fulled extended, but it was clearly an invite for a fist bump.

"Hurry up, before I change my mind."

He had his head turned toward the side, but he glanced at her and smiled. Ladybug smiled back and proceeded to fist bump Dark Chaos, both of them extending their arms toward each other.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of Paris, the evil Hawkmoth was looking out of his stained glass window as it closed.

"I **will** have yours and Chat Noir's miraculouses someday, Ladybug." He declared. "And when I do, everyone foolish enough to stand in my way will **burn**!"

* * *

 _ **BEEP-BEEP**_

The sound of Ladybug's earrings got their attention, reminding them of when Ladybug used her Lucky Charm. Dark Chaos inspected them and saw that she only had one spot left. Without another word, Dark Chaos grabbed Ladybug by the waist, reached into his pocket, pulled out his emerald and teleported away with her.

"Chaos control!"

 _ **VOIP**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**VOIP**_

They both reappeared where they left from, the top of the lookout point on the Eiffel Tower. Less than a minute later, Ladybug transformed back into Marinette with Tikki falling into her hands.

"Tikki!" She exclaimed as she held her kwami.

"I'm okay, Marinette. Just really hungry."

"You feed her," Said Dark Chaos, reaching into his pocket. "I'll go get my backpack. Chaos control."

 _ **VOIP**_

* * *

By the time Shadow got back, backpack in hand and brown contacts on eyes, he found that Tikki, after being fed, was resting in Marinette's bag while Marinette was waiting for him.

"Sorry, I'm late." He said as he walked up to her.

She turned around and smiled.

"It's okay."

"I didn't think he would be that crafty or… lucky. I toyed with him, which only made it take longer than it should have."

Shadow placed his backpack beside him, grabbed the fencing of the lookout and looked at the ground below.

"At least we stopped him," Marinette placed her hand on his and gripped it, "together."

Shadow looked at her hand and then to her. She was smiling at him, so he smiled back before turning to look back at the ground.

"But now you're probably going to be in big trouble with your parents."

Marinette frowned at this, knowing he was right, and looked down. But then, she saw something that made her perk up.

"We'll just tell her the truth, that we were caught in the 'crossfire' of an akuma attack. I'm sure they'll believe us when they see the news, see?"

Shadow saw her pointing at something and looked down. Marinette was pointing at the news crew interviewing people in front of the base of the tower.

"Huh, I guess you're right." He said with the smallest bit of enthusiasm before remembering something important. "Oh, that's right!"

Shadow picked up his backpack, unzipped it and pulled out a neatly folded bundle of clothes. Marinette looked at the bundle and saw the white design on the neatly folded hoodie placed on top of the neatly folded pants.

"I didn't have time to say it during the akuma attack." He looked her straight in the eye and gave her the most endearing smile that he could muster. "Thank you so much for this, Marinette."

Marinette smiled back, blushing deeply at his sincerity.

"Well, like I said. You inspired me." Suddenly, something popped into her head. "Oh! Look inside the left sleeve."

Shadow found this to be odd, but still proceeded to pull out the left sleeve of his new hoodie and looked inside. At first, he didn't notice anything, but then, he noticed some red thread on the seam sewn into some kind of swirly design. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that it was actually writing, calligraphy in fact.

"It's something I do with all of my designs." She said as Shadow made out the red writing. "I sign them."

The name "Marinette" was what the red lettering was made out to be.

"Fascinating." Said Shadow. "You really **are** an artist."

The genuine compliment made Marinette's face go red hot.

"Oh, I don't know about that."

"No, I mean it. You're…" He looked at her and with wide eyes, saw, not Maria Robotnik, but Marinette, and **only** … beautiful Marinette Dupain-Cheng. "You're amazing."

While Marinette tried to hide her entire red, smiling face, Shadow shook his head, knelt down and carefully placed his new superhero costume back inside of his backpack.

"I may not approve of the title 'superhero', but… I guess I can put up with it… for now." Marinette giggled at his statement. "It's funny. You even giggle like her."

At first, her eyes widened, which was enough for Shadow to realize what he just said.

"Uh! Sorry! I didn't mean to compare you again. I just—"

" _(giggle)_ It's okay." Shadow stared at her in surprise while Marinette calmed down from her giggle fit before she started speaking again. "Really, it's okay. I'll take that as a complement."

She reached out and grabbed one of his hands in both on hers, squeezing it gently. Shadow smiled at her again, not even noticing the blush forming on his face.

"Hey, Shadow. You know what the best thing about standing on the Eiffel Tower after dark is?"

"What?"

Marinette removed one hand and gestured to beyond the fencing.

"Now you get to see the city of Paris at its best."

Marinette then pointed in the direction of the rest of the city. Shadow looked on in awe. They had spent so much time on the tower, and then fighting Fire-Man, and then talking, that it was now dark enough for enough of the city lights to come on, including the lights of the tower that they were standing on.

"Wow!" Shadow said as he gripped the fencing with both hands and looked on. "You know, I read somewhere that they call this city the 'City of Lights'."

Marinette mimicked his motions and looked out at her home.

"They also call it the 'City of Love'."

Shadow looked at her when she said this and noticed how beautiful she looked at this moment. Marinette then turned to look at him and froze when _she_ noticed how handsome he looked. Neither of them even noticed that they were now holding hands. Marinette didn't notice that she was now getting closer to him, and Shadow didn't notice that his hands had made their way to her shoulders. Marinette raised her head and closed her eyes, not taking notice that her hands were no wrapped around Shadow's back. Shadow tilted his head down and closed his eyes, not taking notice that _his_ hands were now on her cheeks. Marinette rose to her tiptoes and raised a single leg as Shadow pulled her face closer. Both of them subconsciously puckered their lips and then… before they knew it… they kissed.

Shadow was not fully aware of what was happening. He only knew that he felt beyond elated as his brain swam in euphoria. Marinette didn't know why, but she felt fireworks go off in the back of her mind as the butterflies in her stomach had a grand party. Both of their hearts felt like they could jump out of their chests and burst with joy at any moment. Shadow hadn't felt this happy since he discovered that just being around Maria would probably cure her NIDS. Marinette hadn't felt this happy since she first kissed Adrien. In fact, it was **exactly** like her first kiss with Adrien.

Neither of them had any idea how much time had passed. It was as if they were lost in happiness, yet somehow, both of them managed to find their way back. Marinette and Shadow's eyes slowly opened. At first, all that they could see were each other's eyes, but then they finally noticed that strange feeling coming from their mouths. Shadow felt a pleasant softness pressed against his lips while Marinette felt something rugged and bumpy, yet also a little soft (it's not like the Ultimate Lifeform would waste money on lip-balm) pressed against _hers_. Their eyes shot open when they realized just what they were doing. Shadow immediately drew his hands away from her face while Marinette threw _herself_ off of Shadow. They both backed away from each other in shock.

"I-I… you… we…" Shadow stammered

Shadow had no idea what to say. What _could_ he say? He just kissed a human girl… and not just any human girl, a girl who he was just starting to actually admit was his friend **and** was already in a romantic relationship with someone _else_. Marinette was the exact same way. She had only known Shadow for a short time, yet she kissed him. She was already dating Adrien Agreste, yet she **kissed** him! She… she just cheated on her boyfriend… with an **alien** … with a **hedgehog alien**! She didn't know how to feel. Part of her hated herself for what she just did, yet at the same time, part of her didn't regret her actions. What was **wrong** with her?!

"I… I… I-I… I'm sorry." Was all he could say before…

 _ **VOIP**_

… vanishing. Marinette reached one hand out to where he was just standing, but she didn't move much further. She couldn't get her previous action out of her head. She knew full well that it wasn't right, but couldn't quite figure out whether or not it was to be considered… bad.

* * *

By the time she had finally arrived home, she was met by two very worried parents. They bombarded her with words of how worried they were.

"Is Shadow in his room?" She asked once they had finally finished.

"Shadow?" Questioned Sabine. "We thought he was with _you_."

Marinette didn't say another word, nor did she stay to **hear** any more words. She ran up the stairs to Shadow's room only to find it completely empty. She sighed and leaned against the doorway. Suddenly, she had an idea just as her parents made it up the stairs. She ran up to her room and went straight to the balcony trapdoor, not even bothering to close the trapdoor to her room. Her parents followed her. She opened the door and was disappointed to find the balcony void of any life. She came back down the stairs and sat down.

"Honey? Are you okay?" Asked her mother.

"… I would like… to be alone right now, please."

Her parents allowed this, closing the door behind them as they descended the stairs. With her room all to herself, Marinette scooped her sleeping kwami out of her bag and laid her down on her pillow before sitting on the edge of her bed. She pulled out her phone and called up her best friend. From the sound of her groggy voice, Marinette could tell that she was originally sleeping.

"Alya, can you and I… talk… tomorrow after school?"

* * *

A few hours later, after everyone was asleep, Shadow came to find that the bakery was left unlocked. He had just recently come back from searching around the city, trying to either clear his head or vent his frustration upon some poor unfortunate… inanimate object, but alas, it wasn't enough. Since his idea of "venting" was classified as "violent" and usually "destructive", the best he could do was crush a few trash cans and bend a traffic sign or two. Maybe dent the occasional streetlight. Unfortunately, he soon realized that this wasn't helping much, and his "moonlit stroll" home didn't help either. He found a note on the counter signed for him. It was from Tom and Sabine, stating that they had intentionally left the door unlocked for him to enter. He mentally stated that this was a "stupid choice" but left it at that.

Poor Shadow still felt full of frustration but hoped a good night's sleep would help. After locking the door, he teleported to his room and laid down to go to sleep. Almost half an hour had passed and he was tossing and turning on his bed. He punched the pillows, threw them around, he even tried sleeping on the carpeted floor; still his frustration kept him wide awake. He needed to vent it in some way. He left his room and dashed up and down the stairs a couple hundred times, but it did nothing. He almost punched a gaping hole through the wall. Back on Mobius, at the (spelling) G.U.N. H.Q., he would normally vent his anger or frustration by sparring with his friends. He couldn't do that here. Not **legally** , anyway.

Shadow walked down to the ground floor and beat his head against the wall a couple times. He hit it so hard, he feared he might wake the family sleeping above him. He even left a noticeable crack on the wall. Shadow didn't know what to do. But then, he turned his head and saw the bakery kitchen. A thought entered his mind. He walked in, grabbed an apron, and got to… "venting".

* * *

The next morning, Sabine and Tom awoke and emerged from their bedroom, only to be greeted with the smell of freshly baked goods. Curious, they descended the staircase and arrived at ground level to see several freshly baked confectioneries lining the walls, and they all smelled heavenly.

" _(gasp)_ Tom, you didn't." Said Sabine, speechless.

"You're right, I didn't. I thought _you_ did." He responded.

"Wait." Sabine said upon realization. "If it wasn't me and it wasn't _you_ , then—"

"No!" Someone shouted in French. "No good! It needs something!"

They both entered the kitchen only to find a young baker with black hair and red highlights wearing a red shirt, black pants and a cooking apron completely covered in flour and other ingredients. He dipped a spoon into the bowl of batter before him, gently touched the batter in the spoon with a finger and tasted said batter.

"Cinnamon!" He stated. "It needs cinnamon."

He then started going through the spices while Sabine and Tom walked in from behind.

"Where is it?!" He said, being unable to find what he was looking for.

He spent a few more minutes looking before he finally straightened up. He then picked up the bowl of batter and threw it down onto the table. Somehow, he only spilled a few drops.

"Darn it! Where is that D—!"

"Shadow?"

Shadow froze for a second when he heard Sabine's voice. He turned around to see her with Tom, allowing the parents to see his face. Like the rest of him, it was a mess of batter and various things from their kitchen. Shadow looked away, took a moment, cleared his throat and turned part way around.

"I… uh… I'm sorry… I… can't seem to find the… _(ahem)_ cinnamon."

"It's, uh, right there." Tom said, pointing to a bottle of cinnamon sitting on the counter close by.

"Oh." Shadow said before slapping his forehead with a sigh. "Thank you."

Shadow retrieved the spice that he needed and proceeded to add it to the bowl. He tasted it and then turned around.

"Thank you… That's… That's just what it needed."

"Shadow, what **is** all of this?" Sabine asked, her voice filled with concern.

"I… had a rough night. I needed to… vent."

"'Vent'?"

"Back home, I would normally vent my… issues by… um… well… I can't do that here… So I decided to try baking, instead."

"… And how do you feel, now?"

"Honestly? Not much better. But there isn't really much I can do."

He turned back around and started folding the batter. Sabine then got closer and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"You can try talking about it." She said, causing him to freeze. "We know we aren't your parents and have no right to pry, but… if you need to talk about it, we're here for you, right, Tom?"

She looked back at her husband and he smiled at her.

"Right." He said with a nod.

Shadow glanced back and they directed their smiles to him, but he only pushed Sabine's hands away.

"No. I can't." He said to them as he continued folding.

The parents frowned at this, but then, the sound of footsteps came to their ears.

"Mom! Dad!" Marinette called as she came down the stairs. "Why are the stairs blocked by cakes?"

Her answer came to her as soon as she walked into the bakery's kitchen and saw Shadow in his… current condition. Shadow and Marinette looked at each other, but then, Shadow turned away and removed the apron that he was wearing.

"I'll be upstairs getting ready for school." He said.

He then picked up the bowl of batter and put it in the fridge. After that, he walked out of the kitchen, past Marinette and went up the stairs. Neither he nor Marinette made eye contact since turning around. Shadow only stopped for a moment when he heard Marinette's voice.

"I-I left some more new clothes out for you." She said.

Shadow didn't give her a response. He just continued walking up the stairs.

* * *

Shadow and Marinette arrived at school at the same time, but Shadow hurried to get to class first, wishing to not spend a second longer next to her. Shadow walked through the classroom door dressed in a white T-shirt, blue pants and a black, long sleeved, button-up shirt that was currently unbuttoned. With his hands tucked into his pockets, he ascended his way to his seat. Adrien shot him scowl for some reason, Shadow just ignored it. Alya reached up and grabbed his sleeve.

"What's wrong with Marinette." She asked him.

Shadow's mind suddenly flashed back to the previous night and he remembered… He just pulled her hand off of his arm and walked away. When he had finally made it to his seat, Nathaniel greeted him with concern.

"Shadow, are you alright? You look terrible."

Shadow said nothing. Marinette finally entered the classroom, looking gloomy, and everyone noticed.

"Marinette, is something wrong?" Asked Ms. Bustier.

Marinette didn't respond, she only made her way to her seat, choosing to not look at anyone, especially not Shadow. When she got there, Ms. Bustier decided to begin role call and get started with class.

"Marinette, are you alright?!" Adrien whispered urgently. "I saw the news from last night. Why didn't you call me to come help?!"

Marinette looked at him as he asked this, and she remembered last night. Alya took notice of the look on her face and took action.

"That's enough, Adrien. Obviously, she doesn't want to talk about it." She said.

"But I was just-"

"Adrien!" Alya warned.

Adrien saw Marinette's sad look and understood.

"I'm sorry." He said, sitting back down.

* * *

At lunch, Adrien decided to confront Shadow. Shadow was walking to the shadows with a sack lunch (curtesy of Sabine) when Adrien caught up to him.

"Hey, Shadow!" He called, gaining the Ultimate Lifeform's attention. "What's going on with Marinette?!"

Shadow instantly remembered the previous night. He shook it out of his head as best as he could.

"I… think you should take it up… with-your-girlfriend…" He spoke that last part quickly as he turned around so that he could leave as soon as he was done speaking. "She looks like she could use your support."

"Well, do you at least want to tell me about _this_?"

Shadow's movements were halted by Adrien's words. Adrien pulled out his phone and it showed the news talking about the fight that took place last night. Shadow instantly looked away.

"No." He said, trying to keep any tone from his voice.

"Shadow, did you tell Marinette not to call me?"

Shadow really didn't want to think about last night.

"Adrien. There was very little time to do **anything**. We couldn't waste time calling you and waiting for you. People were in danger and we needed to act." Shadow tried his hardest not to think about **it**. "All that matters is that everything is now… taken care of."

"Well, what about _this_?" Adrien held up his phone so that Shadow could see that the news had changed to show the damage caused to the city **after** the battle against Fire-Man. "Why didn't Ladybug's Miraculous Ladybug fix this?"

Shadow knew instantly what that was. He turned away from Adrien.

"Because _that_ happened… after the fight."

"What?!"

"I did that."

"Say, **what**?! _You_ did this?"

"… I had issues I had to work out, okay?"

"No! Not okay! This is **vandalism**!"

"I'm well aware of my own crimes, thank you!" Shadow turned around, scowling as he said this. "I don't need anyone **pointing** out my wrongdoings! Especially not _**you**_!"

Shadow then started walking away, not wishing to continue.

"What kind of 'issues' warrant this much destruction?"

"If you knew, you'd only want me dead." Shadow stopped for a moment to say this, then continued walking toward cover where he disappeared to eat his lunch in peace.

Adrien's suspicion had grown tenfold as he watched Shadow walk away. Shadow then reached a dark corner and sat down. He opened his lunch bag and was surprised to see what was sitting on top of his lunch. It was some money with a note attached. Shadow took out the money and red the note.

" _You saved us a lot of baking today and then some. This is just our little way of saying 'Thank you for your help'._ "

At first, Shadow was confused, but then, he remembered about his "venting" last night and this morning. He would've filed this under "Kind Gestures to Pay Back" if he didn't remember that he made all of those pastries. So with this in mind, he just stashed the money into his pocket and got straight to eating.

While everyone was busy eating, Sabrina was busy helping Chloé with her make-up (surprise, _surprise_ ).

"But Chloé, I thought you wanted **Adrien**?" Sabrina asked.

"I do." Chloé said.

"Then, why are you flirting with Shadow so much?"

"Because, obviously if Adrien sees me with _him_ , it'll make him **totally** jealous. Then, he'll realize that he can't live without me and **dump** Marinette so that he can fight to win me back." Chloé explained with confidence.

"But Shadow doesn't seem all that interested—"

"Sabrina," Chloé put a pause on her application as she spoke, " _I'll_ come up with the plans. _You_ make sure they happen the way they're supposed to happen."

With that said, she Chloé went right back to applying her make-up.

* * *

Another school day had ended and everyone was on their way out of the building. Marinette was still being quiet but Alya told the boys to never mind it and to let _her_ handle it. When Shadow emerged from the school, Nathaniel was with him, but the two of them weren't talking like they usually did. Shadow wore the same vacant look that Marinette did. Marinette and her friends caught sight of him, but he didn't acknowledge them, not that he did at all that day. Suddenly, Shadow looked like something had caught his eye. Then, his eyes were filled with something **other** than vacancy, determination. He straightened his posture, smoothed out his hair (which was pointless since it was stuck in a permanent, spikey state) and checked his breath… This motion was what **really** drew attention to him. He then started walking… toward Juleka and Rose. He surprised both of them after he had reached them. Juleka adverted her gaze with a blush.

"Excuse me, Juleka? I was thinking, instead of going out Friday, why don't I take you out on that date right now?" He asked her, gently taking one of her hands, causing her to stare directly at him while her blush deepened. "We've got plenty of time until the sun sets, so what do you say?"

Shadow gave her a small smile, but Juleka looked to be in a state of shock. Rose, on the other hand, looked ecstatic.

"She'd love to!" Rose blurted out for Juleka.

"Great." Shadow said before placing a hand on her upper back, just below her shoulders, and led her away.

"Um, okay." Was all she said as Shadow led her off.

While Rose waved them off, Marinette stared at them with wide eyes as she felt half of her heart sink.

"Wait, Shadow!" Nino called, remembering Shadow's economic situation.

"Don't worry. I've got money." Shadow said without turning around.

"Oh…" Nino responded in surprise. "How'd he get money?"

It was around this time that Adrien finally noticed Marinette's melancholy expression.

"Omigosh! Mari, are you alright?!" Adrien asked, quick to hold his beloved.

"No… I'm not." She said with a melancholy tone.

"C'mon, I'll—"

" _I'll_ take it from here." Said Alya, taking Marinette by the shoulders and leading her away.

"Huh?"

"Trust me, this is a job for her best friend." She said with confidence as she led Marinette away.

Marinette, Tikki and Alya were now gone, and **Shadow** was now gone. That left only Adrien, Nino, Plagg (in Adrien's pocket) …

"Hey."

… and Nathaniel, who was standing right beside them.

"Uh… Hey." The two boys said in awkward reply.

Back up the stairs, Chloé saw opportunity and didn't waste it (not realizing how pointless it was).

"So, what do we do now?" Nate asked.

"Oh, **Adrikins**!" They were all suddenly alerted to the sound of Chloé's voice.

"Chloé?" They all turned around and found that it was, in fact, the mayor's daughter with her best friend standing beside her.

"Since Marinette Dupain-Cheng so rudely left you behind, why don't you spend some time with _me_?"

Sabrina was surprised by this action.

"But, Chloé," Sabrina whispered into her best friend's ear, "what about the plan?"

"Forget the plan!" She whispered back. "I'm not wasting this chance!"

Being his oldest friend turned "friend" (the quotations meaning that her status as a friend had become very questionable) Adrien actually thought it over.

"Actually, Chloé, we already have plans." Nino quickly said.

"We do?" Adrien questioned.

"Yeah, we do. Right, Nathan?" Nino said, hooking one arm around Adrien and then his other around Nathaniel.

"Uh…" Was all the red haired teen could say before the teenaged D.J. was hauling the two boys off somewhere.

"Exactly. Let's go, dudes!" Nino said as he did so.

Chloé deflated like a balloon. Sabrina reacted by patting her on the back.

"It's okay, Chloé." Sabrina said to her. "Why don't you and I go to your place and pretend to be Ladybug and Chat Noir?"

Chloé only nodded as she was led away by Sabrina.

* * *

Rather than go home, Alya decided to take Marinette to a café. As they sat there, Marinette was trying to think of a way to explain her situation to not only her best friend, but her best kwami-friend as well. Since Tikki wasn't awake for the… events that occurred, she had no idea what was wrong with her holder or Shadow.

"Alya? Tikki?" Marinette said, trying to usher up the strength she needed to say what needed to be said. "I need your help."

"Relax, girl. Remember, we're here for you." Alya reached across the table to hold Marinette's hand.

"What's wrong, Marinette?" Asked Tikki as she placed her own tendrils onto Marinette's hands.

Marinette took a deep breath and started to speak.

"Alya? Tikki? I think… I think I might be…"

"… _(sigh)_ You think you're falling in love again, don't you?"

"Wha-?!" Both Marinette and Tikki responded this way in regards to Alya's presumption.

Tikki looked at her holder in disbelief.

"Marinette, is this true?!" She asked her.

"But… how did you—?!"

"Marinette, I've seen how you've been acting around him or when we're talking about him." Alya said, interrupting Marinette. "It wasn't too hard to figure out that your problems had something to do with **Shadow**. And the last time you acted like this was when you first fell for Adrien, **hard**."

" _(groan)_ What am I gonna do?"

"Don't worry, Marinette." Said Tikki. "I'm sure it's just a simple crush and nothing serious. You love **Adrien** , and nothing could ever ruin what you two have."

Marinette laughed nervously as her eyes darted from one place to another.

"Actually…" Marinette looked at her kwami and spoke with regret in her voice. "There's something _else_ you don't know, Tikki… Last night, after the fight and you fell asleep… Shadow and I…"

Tikki and Alya felt nervous about what would come out of her mouth next. Marinette was terrified of what their response to her news would be. She took a **deep** , deep breath, closed her eyes and clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white.

"… kissed." She said quickly and quietly.

Marinette opened one eye, ever so slightly. Alya's jaw had dropped so low, it looked as though it had fallen out of place, and Tikki's eyes looked like they could pop out of her head at any moment.

" **YOU WHAT?!** " Tikki blurted out.

Her outburst caught the attention of everyone in the café. Quick to react, Marinette clapped her hands around the insect-like kwami. Looking around, she could see that everyone was staring at her.

"Um… my phone call just… dropped." She said, pulling out her phone so that no one would suspect a thing.

Somehow, this worked (perhaps because they thought that she was crazy and didn't want to bother her further). Marinette released Tikki and sighed.

"Uh… Marinette…" Said Alya. "Now, when you say 'kissed', do you mean, like, on the hand or… the head?"

"It was on the lips." She said just as quickly and just as quietly as last time.

 _This_ time, Marinette clamped her hands on Tikki before she screamed. No one seemed to hear, but she was still nervous.

"He kissed you on the lips?!" Tikki whispered after Marinette finally released her from her grasp, flabbergasted.

"Yes." Marinette confessed.

"W-well, at least he kissed _you_ and you didn't—"

Before Alya could finish, she and Tikki noticed the look on Marinette's face.

"You kissed him back, didn't you?" Tikki assumed.

"Eh-h… actually, it was more like we both kissed each other and didn't even realize it." Marinette explained, unable to look them in the face with both eyes as she did so.

This time, **both** of them looked like their eyes were going to pop out. Tikki picked up a napkin and held in front of her face as if it were a paper bag, taking several breaths with it before her before speaking.

"… How could you not realize it?!" She blurted out as quietly as she could manage; fortunately, no one seemed to notice it, or just didn't want to make eye contact, thinking that it was Marinette overreacting to her phone, again.

"I… I don't know! I mean, one second, we're looking at the beautiful scenery, and then the next, he's…. looking at me and…" as she continued to speak, her tone went from worried-panic to calm to dreamily, "I'm looking at him and I… I suddenly notice that he actually looks kind of… handsome and… he looks into _my_ eyes and… I look into _his_ and… everything just… gets…"

"Marinette!" Alya and Tikki exclaim, snapping her back to reality.

"Whoa! I'm sorry! I don't know what happened! It just… **happened**!"

"Marinette, it's okay!" Alya said immediately. "These things… uh, happen. This stuff practically _**never**_ makes sense. I mean, look at me and Nino."

"I'm serious, Alya!" Marinette exclaimed in response to Alya's half-joke. "I still love Adrien from the bottom of my heart, but now… it feels like my heart is torn."

Marinette dropped into the table, burying her face into it. Alya looked around but stopped when her eyes fell on what they had ordered and suddenly got an idea.

"Here. I have an idea." Alya took a red macaroon and a green macaroon from the table. "Look, pretend _this_ macaroon is Shadow, and _this_ macaroon is Adrien."

Alya placed them beside Marinette, each one on one side. Marinette eyed the colored treats before her, questioning Alya's motive.

"Now I want you to close your eyes and think about everything you like about them. Then just reach out and choose." Marinette followed her best friend's instructions. "Now, imagine all of their good qualities. Imagine Shadow's coolness. Think of how nice Adrien is. Think about what little you know about Shadow. Think of how well you know Adrien. Think about the short time you've known Shadow. Think about all the time you and Adrien have spent together as friends and then eventually leading up to your relationship. Think about everything either of them has done for you. Think about what they both mean to you. Just think, and whoever you think is the best choice—"

 _ **CRUNCH**_

Alya had closed her eyes for just a moment, but opened them again when she heard the sound of crunching cookies. What she saw was Marinette with both of her cheeks stuffed and her mouth covered in red and green crumbs. In the places where the two macaroons were placed, there was nothing but red and green crumbs, as well.

"I couldn't decide!" Marinette loudly said in shame, her mouth full of chewed up macaroons.

"Uh…" Alya was stunned for a moment by what had just happened. "Okay, that plan clearly backfired."

"She ate them both so fast." Was all Tikki could say.

Marinette could only chew her snacks for a bit, and then drop to the table in defeat.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the city, Shadow and Juleka were _also_ sitting in a café. It was the same café that where Shadow, Marinette and Tikki planned out their tour of Paris. After placing their orders, they sat and waited. For a while, neither of them had said anything. The atmosphere was growing extremely dull.

"I… Like your hair." Said Juleka.

Shadow looked at her and then up as much as he could so that he could barely see it. He had already known since day one that his spikey hair dangled over his forehead somewhat.

"Thank you." He said plainly.

"I dyed mine, too. But, you probably already knew that." She blushed in embarrassment of what she just said.

"I didn't dye it. I was born with it. Genetic mutation. Some are born with extra thumbs; _I_ was born with red highlights in my hair."

"Really?!" Juleka asked, bewildered.

"Mm-hm."

"Wicked."

"… Thank you."

Once again, everything was silent.

"So…" She said. "Do you… have any… hobbies?"

"… No…" He said, turning his head to look at the street.

" _This is a waste of time._ " Shadow thought.

Soon enough, their orders arrived.

"Thank you." Said Juleka.

"Thanks." Said Shadow.

With their orders before them, they were, once again, back to awkwardness and dullness.

"Um…" Juleka tried to think of something to say. "I… like your… outfit?"

Shadow gave her a curious look then looked down to look at his attire.

" _Hmph_ … Thanks…" He turned down the road again, darting his eyes toward the girl. "Marinette made it."

"Really? Well, she **is** a great designer."

"I… guess?" Shadow tried not think about her.

"You don't like it?"

"I… didn't say that." Shadow looked at the sleeve of his outfit again and remembered something that she said; _"What can I say? You inspired me."_ "You know… she also made my outfit from yesterday and… something else… for me."

Try as he might to keep an emotionless face, he couldn't help but smile.

"She loves making things for her friends." Juleka said. "That's what makes her such a great friend."

He looked at his sleeve and remembered that of all the people who were so generous to him in this world, _she_ was the **most** generous. _She_ gave the most to him.

"She is… amazing."

This caught Juleka's attention.

"Um… Yeah, I guess she is."

She noticed his smile as he looked at his sleeve. She didn't feel particularly happy that bringing up one of her friends was what it would take to get him to smile. Perhaps it was because of the **type** of smile he had.

"So, um, are you enjoying Paris?"

Shadow stopped looking at his sleeve and directed his attention back to his date.

"Yeah, sure."

"Great. That's… great."

"Yep…"

Any topics brought up were answered with short responses. Shadow may have been the Ultimate Lifeform, but he was never a good conversationalist to those who he didn't really trust or at least, know all that well. Juleka was kind of the same. This went on for a while until Shadow said something.

"You don't talk much do you?"

Juleka found this to be ironic, which it was.

"No, not really." Juleka said. "But neither do you.

" _Hmph_ , You're right. I don't." Shadow gave an amused look before it suddenly vanished. "…Well, most of the time."

"Huh?"

"I'm not **always** this silent. **Sometimes** I… talk."

Juleka finally felt like she had a chance for conversation.

"What… kind of… times?"

"Usually when I'm with someone I know well enough to trust."

Juleka felt nervous about continuing this conversation.

"Like… Nathaniel?"

"Well, he's someone whom I'm **acquainted** with and I know **some** things about him, but not a lot." Shadow _then_ thought of Marinette, but he shook her out of his head and thought of some others. "My colleagues back home, on the other hand, I trust _them_."

"Oh. Well, what about… me?"

Shadow did not answer right away, but soon enough, he did.

" _(sigh)_ … Juleka, I have to be honest with you… No. I don't. And I don't think I ever will." Juleka felt her heart cracking. "I'm sorry Juleka, I didn't want to hurt you. I just wanted my jewel back. I'm sorry. I just… don't feel that way about you."

Juleka lowered her head in shame. Her first crush in a long time had just turned her down.

"Oh, I get it."

Actually, she did not, not **really**. She felt as though he only did this just to take pity on her. She did not like this feeling inside of her.

"I guess it makes sense." She said in defeat, getting up from her seat.

"You're leaving?" He said, getting up, as well, and then taking out his money to pay for their orders.

"Shadow, did you agree to take me out because you **wanted** to, or because you felt like you **had** to?" She asked him with a serious face.

Shadow had to think of a proper response. He didn't want to offend Juleka. She _was_ one of Marinette's friends after all.

"I… uh… You did something nice for me, so… I just wanted to return the favor."

Juleka felt low… very low.

"I think I should go." She said as she walked past him.

Shadow lowered his _own_ head in shame of offending her. Before she got too far away, she brought up something that was on her mind.

"Um… Shadow?" She asked him, gaining his attention. "You're uh… living with Marinette, right? Are you… related to her?"

Once again, Marinette was brought into the conversation.

"No, we're not related, but her family _did_ take me in, yes." He said, approaching her.

She responded by stepping back, which was enough for Shadow to understand that he had to stop.

"So… I guess that means that you've gotten to know her pretty well."

Truth be told, he had started getting to know Marinette **before** he started living with her.

"I… know a **few** things about her, but… I don't know **everything**." Shadow's eyes trailed off and drifted over the red plate attached to his gold ring and remembered when he showed that picture of him and his team to her. "And she… knows a few things about _me_."

The look on his face was starting to clue Juleka in.

"Do you… like her?"

Shadow straightened up and stared at her with wide eyes.

"W-what?" He said shock, taking a step back. "Why would you—?!"

"Because I want you to know something. Marinette is my friend. She already found love. You may like her, and you seem nice… despite… **this**." Juleka used her hands to gesture to the setting, signaling Shadow that she was referring to the date. "But if I find out that something happened because of you and it **hurts** her, then ex-crush or not, me and my friends will make you regret it."

Throughout that entire speech, she maintained a serious face as she looked at him. She even approached him and stuck her finger in his face to punctuate what she had just said. She then turned to walk away.

"Do you," Shadow started, wanting to make it up to her, "want me to walk you home?"

"No thanks. I can manage." Was the last thing that she said before she walked away, feeling both heartbroken and angered.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hawkmoth was admiring the town and keeping an eye out for any negativity. Unfortunately, he found it.

"Ah! A girl suffering from a broken heart _and_ distrust of her friend's friend." He said to himself. "Just what my darling akuma have been hungering for."

He then opened his hand, letting a white butterfly land on it. Placing his other hand over it, the dark energies began to enter it and it soon became an akuma. With that, he released it and it made its way out of the window.

"Fly away, my evil little akuma, and transform her."

* * *

The akuma made its way to where they were, just as Juleka started leaving again. _This_ time, _Shadow_ was the one feeling low. He turned and started to walk away, but out of guilt, he looked back at the girl who's heart he had just broke and noticed something. There was something moving in the air. Shadow noticed the smallest hints of purple lights coming from it. From the way it moved, it greatly looked like some type of insec—and then, at that moment, Shadow realized that it _was_ an insect. It was a **black** **butterfly** , an **akuma** , and it was heading straight for Juleka. It got closer and closer to her until it was just a breath away from her.

 _ **VOIP**_

* * *

"What?!" Exclaimed Hawkmoth when he saw that his vision through the akuma was obscured by something green.

* * *

The akuma was trapped inside of a green bubble of **chaos** energy. It fluttered about inside of the bubble, but there was no escape. All that it could do was watch Juleka walk away. Then, suddenly, the butterfly was moving away from Juleka even faster than the speed that she was leaving at. It kept moving backwards until the bubble rounded a corner and fell into a glowing, white gloved hand.

"No." Said the hand's owner.

* * *

"Who dares?!" Hawkmoth exclaimed until the butterfly saw that its captor was someone with red eyes and was wearing a black mask with red streaks above his eyes.

"That girl has already been through enough. I'm not about to let you make her day even worse."

* * *

The masked boy placed both hands on the bubble, making them **both** glow, and took a deep breath.

* * *

"No! NO! Let me GO!" Hawkmoth yelled at the boy, but alas, he could not hear, not that he'd care even he could.

* * *

"Chaos… Siphon!"

The green glow spread out further as a masked Shadow siphoned every last bit of dark energy from the akuma. Shadow groaned and gasped as he continued to suck out the bad juju from the insect.

* * *

"GAAAAAHHAAAAAAHHH!" Hawkmoth exclaimed, feeling his dark power being taken away, drop by drop.

* * *

Though it took about a minute or so, the akuma was eventually reduced to a normal butterfly. The barrier around it dissipated and it flew away, leaving the one who freed it from evil to drop to his knees, supporting himself on his hands, gasping for air as his head filled with pain… and darkness.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hawkmoth also dropped to his knees as Nooroo dropped out of his miraculous. Nooroo's master gasped for air after his previous screaming fit while Nooroo himself struggle just to get a few inches off of the ground.

"Th-th-that… **boy** again…!" The moth miraculous holder struggled to say. "He isn't human…! No human… being can… do this! W-what **is** he?!"

* * *

Shadow watched as the butterfly flew away into the night, never to cause harm to anyone ever again. Unlike said butterfly, Shadow was in deep pain as the flesh around his eyes turned deep red and his eyes turned yellow… and the pupils turned into thin slits. Shadow clutched at his heart when it suddenly felt cold as ice… What was happening to him?

* * *

Fade to black.

* * *

" _ **Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh… Only a matter of time, now… Shadow.**_ "


End file.
